Evolution of blood lead levels in urban French population (1979-1995).
BACKGROUND
The aim of the Council Directive of 29 March 1977 of the European Union was to measure non-occupational lead exposure levels in the general adult populations of European countries through biological monitoring. In France, such measurements were carried out during 1979 and 1982 in eight metropolitan areas (having more than 500 000 inhabitants), a period during which the lead content of petrol was decreased. The aim of this study conduct in 1995 was to evaluate the exposure trend to lead.


METHODS
In 1995 this measurement was repeated, only in the three largest urban areas (Paris, Marseilles and Lyons). The same sampling method used in the first two campaigns was retained to ensure that the results of 1995 could be compared with those from 1979 and 1982.


RESULTS
In these three metropolitan areas, the average blood lead levels decreased by the order of 60 microg/l between the beginning of the 1980's and 1995. This represents a fall of more than 50%.


CONCLUSIONS
Certainly car pollution is not the only vector of dissemination of lead in the centre of urban zones, but it is there that the most sustained efforts at eradication have been made. The improvement we have observed is probably due to the policy of eliminating lead from petrol. In conclusion, the blood lead levels in French urban populations seem to have greatly decreased from those of the early 1980s.
Huel
G
G
Unité de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Biostatistique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale. INSERM U472, 16, avenue Paul-Vaillant-Couturier, 94807 Villejuif Cedex. huel@vjf.inserm.fr
Fréry
N
N
Takser
L
L
Jouan
M
M
Hellier
G
G
Sahuquillo
J
J
Giordanella
J P
JP
D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population
D007854:Lead