title: Levels and predictors of urinary nickel concentrations of children in Germany: results from the German Environmental Survey on children (GerES IV).
abstract: Human biomonitoring of nickel has gained interest in environmental medicine due to its wide distribution in the environment and its allergenic potential. There are indications that the prevalence of nickel sensitization in children is increased by nickel exposure and that oral uptake of nickel can exacerbate nickel dermatitis in nickel-sensitive individuals. Urinary nickel measurement is a good indicator of exposure. However, data on nickel levels in urine of children are rare. For the first time, the German Environmental Survey on children (GerES IV) 2003-2006 provided representative data to describe the internal nickel exposure of children aged 3-14 years in Germany. Nickel was measured after enrichment in the organic phase of urine by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction. Nickel levels (n=1576) ranged from <0.5 to 15 μg/l. Geometric mean was 1.26 μg/l. Multivariate regression analysis showed that gender, age, socio-economic status, being overweighted, consumption of hazelnut spread, nuts, cereals, chocolate and urinary creatinine were significant predictors for urinary nickel excretion of children who do not smoke. 20.2% of the variance could be explained by these variables. With a contribution of 13.8% the urinary creatinine concentration was the most important predictor. No influence of nickel intake via drinking water and second hand smoke exposure was observed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. wilhelm@hygiene.rub.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wittsiepe
authors.forename: Margarete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seiwert
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hünken
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Marike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolossa-Gehring
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002099:Cacao; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003367:Cotinine / Q000652:urine; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis; D002523:Edible Grain; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D005858:Germany; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009532:Nickel / Q000652:urine*; D009754:Nuts; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009532:Nickel; D003404:Creatinine; D003367:Cotinine