Roulet's Law Proof Why Nazis High precision blood lead radiogenic isotope signatures in a community exposed to Pb contaminated soils and implications for the current Pb exposure of the European population living in the urban area of Liège (Belgium)

By Norm Roulet, 19 November, 2024
High precision blood lead radiogenic isotope signatures in a community exposed to Pb contaminated soils and implications for the current Pb exposure of the European population
Nazi Europe Pb

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174763Get rights and content

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Highlights

  • Soil Pb contributes to roughly 20 % of Blood Lead Levels in the study population.
  • Exposure to soil Pb is not the main driver for changes in Blood Lead isotopes (BLI).
  • BLI ratios differ by birth country and by the period the house was built.
  • BLI remained stable over the last decade and still records Australian ore signature.

Abstract

Our study provides the most comprehensive dataset for high-precision radiogenic isotopes of lead (Pb) in blood for the western European population. It investigates their potential for elucidating the contribution of soil Pb to blood Pb using a human biomonitoring survey involving 81 adults and 4 children living in the urban area of Liège (Belgium). Soils in the area show moderate (median of 360 mg/kg) to high (95th percentile of 1000 mg/kg) Pb concentrations, due to former metal processing activities. Blood lead levels (BLL) measured in the study population are, on average, quantitatively consistent with a ∼ 20 % increase due to the exposure to Pb from soils, as estimated by a single-compartment biokinetic model. Consistently, its isotopic composition does not represent an endmember that fully accounts for the variability of Blood lead isotope (BLI) compositions measured in the study population. While some individuals show more thorogenic BLI ratios (relatively more enriched in 208Pb), which could be consistent with a greater exposure to local soils and/or by their country of birth, the BLI data mostly follow a trend roughly parallel to the European Standard Lead Pollution (ESLP) line, within the European leaded gasoline field, even two decades after the withdrawal of this source. Differences in BLI are probably associated with factors related to the presence of Pb in dwellings (pipes, paint) and drinking water distribution system, suggesting that the anthropogenic Pb in use, relevant to human exposure, may contain ore components of different origins, including the Australian Pb ore signature.

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