TY - JOUR
T1 - Lifetime exposure to arsenic in residential drinking water in Central Europe
AU - Hough, Rupert Lloyd
AU - Fletcher, Tony
AU - Leonardi, Giovanni Sebastiano
AU - Goessler, Walter
AU - Gnagnarella, Patrizia
AU - Clemens, Felicity
AU - Gurzau, Eugen
AU - Koppova, Kvetoslava
AU - Rudnai, Peter
AU - Kumar, Rajiv
AU - Vahter, Marie
PY - 2010/6
Y1 - 2010/6
N2 - Objective Methods and results are presented for an arsenic exposure assessment integral to an epidemiological case-control study of arsenic and cancer-the European Commission funded ASHRAM (Arsenic Health Risk Assessment and Molecular Epidemiology) study carried out in some counties of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Methods The exposure history of each participant (N = 1,392) was constructed by taking into account how much water they consumed (as water, in drinks and in food), sources of drinking water in their various residences over their lifetime, and the concentrations of arsenic in their various water supplies measured by Hydride Generation-Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (HG-AAS). Concentrations of arsenic in previous water supplies were either derived from contemporary analyses of the same source, or from routine historical data from measurements performed by the authorities in each country. Using this approach, 80% of the recorded lifetime residential history was matched to an arsenic concentration. Seven indices of current, life time, and peak exposure were calculated. Results The exposure indices were all log-normally distributed and the mean and median lifetime average concentrations were in Hungary 14.7 and 13.3 μg l-1, Romania 3.8 and 0.7 μg l-1 and in Slovakia 1.9 and 0.8 μg l-1, respectively. Overall 25% of the population had average concentrations over 10 μg l-1 and 8% with exposure over 50 μg l-1. Conclusions Careful assessment of arsenic in drinking water supplies (both current and previous) enabled the majority of study participants' cumulative lifetime of potential exposure to arsenic in residential water to be characterised.
AB - Objective Methods and results are presented for an arsenic exposure assessment integral to an epidemiological case-control study of arsenic and cancer-the European Commission funded ASHRAM (Arsenic Health Risk Assessment and Molecular Epidemiology) study carried out in some counties of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Methods The exposure history of each participant (N = 1,392) was constructed by taking into account how much water they consumed (as water, in drinks and in food), sources of drinking water in their various residences over their lifetime, and the concentrations of arsenic in their various water supplies measured by Hydride Generation-Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (HG-AAS). Concentrations of arsenic in previous water supplies were either derived from contemporary analyses of the same source, or from routine historical data from measurements performed by the authorities in each country. Using this approach, 80% of the recorded lifetime residential history was matched to an arsenic concentration. Seven indices of current, life time, and peak exposure were calculated. Results The exposure indices were all log-normally distributed and the mean and median lifetime average concentrations were in Hungary 14.7 and 13.3 μg l-1, Romania 3.8 and 0.7 μg l-1 and in Slovakia 1.9 and 0.8 μg l-1, respectively. Overall 25% of the population had average concentrations over 10 μg l-1 and 8% with exposure over 50 μg l-1. Conclusions Careful assessment of arsenic in drinking water supplies (both current and previous) enabled the majority of study participants' cumulative lifetime of potential exposure to arsenic in residential water to be characterised.
KW - Arsenic
KW - Case-control study
KW - Drinking water
KW - Exposure assessment
KW - Food frequency questionnaire
KW - HG-AAS
KW - Population study
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U2 - 10.1007/s00420-010-0519-1
DO - 10.1007/s00420-010-0519-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 20401490
AN - SCOPUS:77955478588
VL - 83
SP - 471
EP - 481
JO - International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
JF - International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
SN - 0340-0131
IS - 5
ER -