Description : Goal, Scope and Background. In the former mining area of Northern France, the number of diseases (cancers, malformations, backwardness…) is about ten times above the national average. Environmental surveys conducted by the Ministry of Health have showed that more than 10% of children living around a lead smelter located in this area had lead levels higher than 100 μg L–1 of blood (25% in the closest city). Two main factors contribute to the population exposure: the ingestion of plants produced in the contaminated area, and also the ingestion or the inhalation of contaminated dust or soil. It is usually known that these particles are key routes of exposure to lead for younger children, in particular via hand-to-mouth transfer. For a better understanding of this problem, researchers investigated different exposure sources like soil and vegetable contamination.
The results showed that heavy metals in soils, particles (dust and soil) or plants of kitchen gardens, lawns or playgrounds could be potentially transferable to the users, and in particular to young children, and could then contribute, to a considerable share, to the exposure of the population living in a contaminated area around a smelter brought about through inhalation, direct ingestion of particles or consumption of plants.
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