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BIOMARKERS IN ADOLESCENTS COULD PROVIDE MEASUREMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (p 1660)
May 23, 2001Biological markers in adolescents could be a reliable measure of exposure to environmental pollutants, according to a study in this week's issue of THE LANCET which highlights how increased exposure among adolescents slows sexual development.
Human exposure to chemicals is normally monitored by measurement of environmental pollutants externally. Jan Staessen and colleagues from the University of Leuven, Belgium, investigated whether biomarkers in adolescents could show exposure to, and the health effects of, common environmental pollutants.
200 17-year-old adolescents (120 girls) were recruited from a rural control area and from two suburbs polluted by a lead smelter and by two waste incinerators in Belgium. Biomarkers of exposure and of effect in blood and urine samples and lifestyle data were recorded. School doctors measured testicular volume in boys and staged sexual development among both sexes.
Concentrations of lead and cadmium in blood, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and dioxin-like compounds in serum samples, and metabolites of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine were higher in one or both suburbs than in the control area. Children who lived near the waste incinerators matured sexually at an older age than others, and testicular volume was smaller in boys from the suburbs than in controls. Biomarkers of glomerular or tubular renal dysfunction in individuals were positively correlated with blood lead. Biomarkers of DNA damage were positively correlated with urinary metabolites of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and VOCs.
Jan Staessen comments: "Biomonitoring of adolescents is a sensitive method to track exposure to common environmental pollutants of different classes and their biological effects long before overt disease develops. Youngsters are especially vulnerable to a large number of noxious agents and their protection is an important public health challenge. Our findings suggest that current environmental standards are insufficient to avoid measurable biological effects, which may be the harbinger of disorders in adult life". (Quote by e-mail; does not appear in published paper).
Contact: Dr Jan A Staessen, Studiecoördinatiecentrum, Laboratorium Hypertensie, Campus Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; T) +32 16 34 71 04; F) +32 16 34 71 06;
E) Jan.Staessen@med.kuleuven.ac.be
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