The Aral Sea disaster – human biomonitoring of Hg, As, HCB, DDE, and PCBs in children living in Aralsk and Akchi, Kazakhstan

Mercury and arsenic have been measured in urine samples and HCB, DDE and PCBs in blood samples of children from Aralsk and Akchi, Kazakhstan. Due to the special situation of Aralsk in the desert left by the drying out Aral Sea, environmental pollution with heavy metals and organic contaminants is be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hygiene and environmental health 2004, Vol.207 (6), p.541-547
Main Authors: Erdinger, Lothar, Eckl, Peter, Ingel, Faina, Khussainova, Shulpan, Utegenova, Elmira, Mann, Volker, Gabrio, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Akchi
Aral Sea
Aralsk
Arsenic - urine
Body Burden
Child
Child, Preschool
Children
Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - blood
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants - blood
Environmental Pollutants - urine
Fungicides, Industrial - blood
Hexachlorobenzene - blood
Hg–As–HCB–DDE–PCBs
Human Biomonitoring
Humans
Insecticides - blood
Kazakhstan
Mercury - urine
Oceans and Seas
Polychlorinated Biphenyls - blood
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Summary:Mercury and arsenic have been measured in urine samples and HCB, DDE and PCBs in blood samples of children from Aralsk and Akchi, Kazakhstan. Due to the special situation of Aralsk in the desert left by the drying out Aral Sea, environmental pollution with heavy metals and organic contaminants is believed to be higher than elsewhere in Kazakhstan. Aralsk was formerly located at the shore of the Aral Sea and is now far away from it. Akchi is a similar village and was included in this study as a Kazakh reference site. Urine concentrations of arsenic were higher in Akchi (9.4 μg/l) than in Aralsk (5.5 μg/l) and compared to children from Mannheim, Germany (4.25 μg/l; Median values). Regarding Hg, differences between children of Aralsk and Akchi were not significant and concentrations were lower than reference values from Germany. DDE contamination of children from Aralsk (2.48 μg/l) was significantly higher compared to Akchi (1.35 μg/l). DDE concentrations in blood samples from children in both cities were also significantly higher than the German reference value (0.7 μg/l). HCB and PCBs levels differed significantly between both Kazakh groups. However, concentrations of these compounds were lower than German reference values and there was no significant difference to samples from Mannheim children.
ISSN:1438-4639
1618-131X
DOI:10.1078/1438-4639-00325