title: Factors affecting internal mercury burdens among eastern German children.
abstract: Internal burdens of mercury were evaluated among 5- to 14-y-old eastern German children in the heavily polluted areas of Bitterfeld, a center of chemical production and coal mining, and Hettstedt, a region of nonferrous metal smelting and mining. We compared blood and urine mercury concentrations in these children with mercury burdens in children who lived in a control area. The unadjusted geometric means of mercury levels in the total group were 0.25 microg/l (95% confidence interval = 0.24, 0.27) in blood and 0.36 microg mercury/g creatinine (95% confidence interval = 0.33, 0.39) in urine. Mercury levels in blood and urine were not significantly higher in children who occupied the two polluted areas, compared with children in the control area. The most significant factor that affected urinary mercury levels was the number of dental amalgam fillings; 27% of the variance in the regression model was explained by the presence of these fillings.
authors.affiliation: GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, Institut für Epidemiologie, Oberscheissheim, Germany.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Trepka
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wjst
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Wichmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001822:Body Burden; D002617:Chemical Industry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003032:Coal Mining; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine; D008628:Mercury