Assessment of exposure to soils contaminated with lead, cadmium, and arsenic near a zinc smelter, Cassiopée Study, France, 2008.

Cécile Durand,Valérie Schwoebel,Nicolas Sauthier

doi:10.1007/s10661-015-4587-2

Cécile Durand, Valérie Schwoebel + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4587-2

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Abstract

After 150 years of industrial activity, significant pollution of surface soils in private gardens and locally produced vegetables with lead, cadmium, and arsenic has recently been observed in Viviez (Southern France). A public health intervention was conducted in 2008 to identify individual health risks of Viviez inhabitants and to analyze their environmental exposure to these pollutants. Children and pregnant women in Viviez were screened for lead poisoning. Urinary cadmium testing was proposed to all inhabitants. Those with urinary cadmium levels over 1 μg/g creatinine were then tested for kidney damage. Urinary cadmium and arsenic levels were compared between participants with non-occupational exposure from Viviez and Montbazens, a nearby town not exposed to these two pollutants, in order to identify environmental factors contributing to impregnation. No case of lead poisoning was detected in Viviez, but 23 % of adults had urinary cadmium over 1 μg/g creatinine, 14 % of whom having markers of kidney damage. Viviez adults had higher levels of urinary cadmium, and to a lesser extent, higher levels of urinary arsenic than those from Montbazens. Consumption of local produce (vegetables and animals) and length of residence in Viviez were associated with higher urinary cadmium levels, independently of known confounding factors, suggesting persisting environmental exposure to contaminated soil. To conclude, health risks related to cadmium exposure were identified in the Viviez population living on contaminated soils. Lead and arsenic exposure did not pose health concerns. Interventions were proposed to reduce exposure and limit health consequences.

Highlights

General backgroundIn recent years, concerns about soil conditions in France and their health impact have increased
A recent study on French general population showed that 0.3 % of participants between 18 and 74 years had urinary cadmium exceeding 2 μg/g, with a geometric mean of 0.29 μg/g (Fréry et al 2011)
In comparison with other countries, the urinary cadmium mean in Viviez adults was higher than that observed in representative samples of the United States population in the Nhanes study (0.27 μg/g) (CDC 2009), in Canada (0.35 μg/g) (Santé Canada 2010), in the Czech Republic (0.24 μg/g) (NIPH 2010), and in

Summary

Introduction

Concerns about soil conditions in France and their health impact have increased. 352 Page 2 of 12 authorities are regularly questioned about health risks and the level of remediation required to rehabilitate former industrial areas where soil is polluted by heavy metals or organic pollutants. By measuring pollutant concentrations in the environment, quantitative health risk assessments can be performed, taking into account all potential ways and sources of exposure to pollutants in different scenarios (WHO 1999). Because of insufficient knowledge about interindividual variability and pollutant transfer from the environment to humans, these predictions do not always reflect realworld situations. Measuring exposure with biological markers can sometimes be useful to evaluate exposure when appropriate and reliable biomarkers exist (Dor et al 2008, 2012).

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