Hellström Lennart, Järup Lars, Persson Bodil, Axelson Olav
Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, County Council of Kalmar, Garvaregatan 9-11, SE-57232 Oskarshamn, Sweden.
J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2004 Sep;14(5):416-23. doi: 10.1038/sj.jea.7500340.
Using environmental concentrations and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to model human exposure is an emerging tool in environmental epidemiology. To evaluate the usefulness of this, we investigated to what extent cadmium and lead concentrations in soil and moss could be used as potential determinants for cadmium and lead exposure for a population living near a battery plant.
Cadmium in urine and blood and lead in blood, as well as food, smoking habits, places of residence, occupations and health, were determined for 512 individuals living near a closed down battery factory in Sweden. Cadmium and lead contents in moss were available through previous assessments by the Geological Survey of Sweden. Soil samples had been collected at various distances from the factory, and analyzed for cadmium and lead contents in 1990. Kriging technique in GIS was used to create areas with different metal concentrations based on these measurements. By linking individual address coordinates to mapped concentration levels, each study subject home address received a value of cadmium and lead in moss and soil.
We found a statistically significant association between lead in soil and lead in blood, for female subjects eating homegrown vegetables regularly. No significant association was found between cadmium in soil and cadmium in urine for either gender in the study population. No clear associations were found for either gender regarding lead and cadmium in moss and lead in blood or cadmium in urine or in blood.
In general, environmental concentrations may not be useful surrogates for assessing human exposure to lead and cadmium, but concentrations of metals in soil around emitting point sources can be a complement for estimating the exposure in certain subgroups.
利用环境浓度和地理信息系统（GIS）对人类暴露进行建模是环境流行病学中一种新兴的工具。为评估其效用，我们调查了土壤和苔藓中的镉和铅浓度在多大程度上可作为一家电池厂附近居民镉和铅暴露的潜在决定因素。
对居住在瑞典一家已关闭电池厂附近的512个人测定了尿镉、血镉、血铅，以及食物、吸烟习惯、居住地点、职业和健康状况。苔藓中的镉和铅含量可通过瑞典地质调查局先前的评估获得。土壤样本于1990年在距工厂不同距离处采集，并分析了镉和铅含量。利用GIS中的克里金技术基于这些测量结果创建具有不同金属浓度的区域。通过将个人地址坐标与绘制的浓度水平相联系，每个研究对象的家庭住址都获得了苔藓和土壤中镉和铅的值。
我们发现，对于经常食用自家种植蔬菜的女性受试者，土壤中的铅与血铅之间存在统计学上的显著关联。在研究人群中，无论男女，土壤中的镉与尿镉之间均未发现显著关联。对于苔藓中的铅和镉以及血铅或尿镉或血镉，无论男女均未发现明确关联。
一般而言，环境浓度可能并非评估人类铅和镉暴露的有用替代指标，但排放点源周围土壤中的金属浓度可作为估计某些亚组暴露情况的补充指标。
