Levels of lead in children's blood in the Upper Meža Valley

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Due to high lead content in the environment, the Upper Meža Valley area was declared a brownfield site area in 2007 and underwent special remediation measures with the aim of protecting the health of people, especially children. Data shows that the lead exposure of children in the Upper Meža Valley improved rapidly in the early years of implementing the remediation measures, but no further improvement was observed after 2010. A prevalence study of lead levels in children's blood from the Meža Valley in 2018 even showed higher values compared to a study conducted in 2013. However, measurements taken between 2019 and 2021 showed lower values again, approaching the set goal. To further improve the situation, appropriately implemented measures, improvement of the living environment, and maintenance of the achieved results will be crucial. In the future, more targeted work with smaller groups and individual children will be necessary, focusing on those with a higher risk of lead exposure, along with providing individualized guidance to reduce children's exposure to lead.

Charts

Figure ZD17-1: Share of blood samples of children aged three living in the Upper Mežica Valley (according to lead content target value is 100 µg/l blood), 2004–2021

Sources:

National Institute of Public Health, 2019 (12. 10. 2021)

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	number of children[numb.]	maximum level of lead[µg/l]	minimum level of lead[µg/l]	average lead[µg/l]	more than 100 µg/l[%]	50 µg/l or more and less than 100 µg/l[%]	less than 50 µg/l[%]
2004	20	375	23	174.80	85	10	5
2005	42	303	19	113.64	55	26	19
2006	50	480	10	115.30	50	26	24
2007	70	500	16	97.83	46	30	24
2008	73	358	13	82.42	21	47	33
2009	74	208	17	65.55	18	34	49
2010	116	301	9	46.55	9	19	72
2011	110	221	21	57.28	9	35	56
2012	84	279	15	65.58	14	35	51
2013	61	330	12	56.18	10	25	66
2014	66	517	22	76.20	17	35	49
2015	83	321	19	65.10	12	33	55
2016	89	316	18	57.40	8	34	58
2017	90	338	23	72.50	20	38	42
2018	87	172	17	59.80	16	33	51
2019	87	417	13	47.70	5	28	68
2020	80	209	11	37.90	4	16	80
2021	66	163	12	48.60	6	33	61

Export Table Data

Figure ZD17-2: Share of three-year old children from Upper and Lower Mežica Valley according to the level of lead in blood samples in 2018 (target value is 100 mg / l blood);

Sources:

National Institute of Public Health, 2018 (30. 10. 2019)

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	0-50 µg/l[µg/l]	50-100 µg/l[µg/l]	100-200 µg/l[µg/l]	200-300 µg/l[µg/l]	300-400 µg/l[µg/l]	number of children[numb.]	0-50 µg/l[%]	50-100 µg/l[%]	100-200 µg/l[%]	200-300 µg/l[%]	300-400 µg/l[%]
Upper Mežica valley	44	29	14	0	0	87	51	33	16	0	0
Lower Mežica valley	178	20	1	0	1	200	89	10	0.50	0	0.50

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Figure ZD17-3: The proportion of children, aged 1-9 years, from the Upper Mežica Valley, according to the values ??of lead in blood samples in 2018 (target value is 100 mg / l blood);

Sources:

National Institute of Public Health RU Ravne na Koroškem, 2018 (30. 10. 2019)

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	0-50 µg/l[µg/l]	50-100 µg/l[µg/l]	100-200 µg/l[µg/l]	200-300 µg/l[µg/l]	300-400 µg/l[µg/l]	number of children[numb.]	average - lead[µg/l]	maximum level of lead[µg/l]	0-50 µg/l[%]	50-100 µg/l[%]	100-200 µg/l[%]	200-300 µg/l[%]	300-400 µg/l[%]
2018	197	91	28	0	0	316	51	172	62.30	28.80	8.90	0	0

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Figure ZD17-4: Average levels of lead in blood of children from the Upper Mežica Valley in 2008, 2013 and 2018 according to age groups (target value is 100 µg/l blood)

Sources:

National Institute of Public Health, 2018 (30. 10. 2019)

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	number of children 2008[numb.]	average lead 2008[µg/l]	maximum level of lead 2008[µg/l]	number of children 2013[numb.]	average lead 2013[µg/l]	maximum level of lead 2013[µg/l]
1 to 2 years	41	79	256	31	56	227
2 to 3 years	35	94	335	26	57	330
3 to 4 years	38	71	358	35	56	212
4 to 5 years	31	68	178	51	43	192
5 to 6 years	48	74	393	46	47	232
more than 6 years	49	56	195	33	35	127

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Figure ZD17-5: Measures to address identified increased levels of lead in the blood

Sources:

National Institute of Public Health RU Ravne na Koroškem, 2019 NIJZ, (30. 10. 2019)

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Figure ZD17-6: The average of geometric levels of lead in blood of children (*arithmetic average) measured in children in some European countries for the period 1990–2008, with stated age of children

Sources:

ENHIS, 2009 (21. 01. 2014)

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	lead exposure[µg/l]
Romania, 1-9 years, 1999/00	104
Hungary, 4-6 years, 1996	61
Hungary, 4-6 years, 2006	19
Bulgaria, 6-15 years, 2003*	58
Russia, 2-6 years, 1997	56
Russia, 8-9 years, 2003/05	30
Slovenia, 3 years, 2008	47
France, 1-6 years, 1995/96	37
France, 0,5-6 years, 2002/04	24
Poland, 8-13 years, 2000	36
Czech Republic, 8-11 years, 1996/01	34
Czech Republic, 8-10 years, 2006	28
Germany, 6-14 years, 1990/92	32
Germany, 3-14 years, 2003/06	15
Sweden, 3-19 years, 1991/94	27
Sweden, 7-11 years, 2007	13
Belgium, 14-15 years, 2003/04	21
Ukraine, 3-7 years, 1990/04	16

Export Table Data

Figure ZD17-7: The average geometric levels of lead in blood of children (* arithmetic average) measured in children in some European countries in the period 1990-2007, with the stated age of children

Sources:

ENHIS, 2009 (21. 01. 2014)

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	lead exposure[µg/l]
Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk II., 3-7 years, 1990-04*	498
Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk I., 3-7 years, 1990-04*	156
Bulgaria, Kuklen, 6-15 years, 1999/00	276
Bulgaria, Kuklen, 6-15 years, 2003	236
Bulgaria, Kurdzali, 6-15 years, 2003*	93
TFYR Macedonia, Veles, 10-14 years, 2003*	165
TFYR Macedonia, Veles, 10-14 years, 2004*	76
Russia, Far East, 3-7 years, 2007/08*	159
Russia, Lipezk, Gus, Podolsk, 5-7 years, 1998/04	46
Russia, Sverdlovsk Oblast, 3-7 years, 2007/08*	32
Poland, Silesia, 2-7 years, 1993/99	63
Poland, Legnica-Glogow, 8-13 years, 2000/03	53
Slovenia, Upper Mežica valley, 1-9 let, 2008	59
Madžarska, Heves County, 3-15 years, 2007	40