Health gurus put Europe on ‘lead alert’ as poisoning affects children

By Karen Carstens

Date: 01/04/04

LEAD continues to affect children's brains in parts of Europe, putting their development at risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

New research conducted by the WHO and Italy's Udine University has revealed that up to one-third of children in some European urban areas have elevated lead levels in their blood, defined as anything above ten microgrammes per one-tenth of a litre.

The findings were released during a preparatory ministerial meeting in Malta on 25-26 March ahead of a pan-European conference on children's health to be held in Budapest in June.

They "point to lead being the single most important toxicant for children" and show that children's "burden of disease from preventable environmental risks is larger than previously reported", the WHO warned in a statement.

Roberto Bertollini, of the organization's regional office for Europe, said member states and EU officials must take more aggressive action on this based on the 'precautionary principle'.

"For too long, policymakers have pleaded 'if only we had known earlier what we know now'," he said.

"What we do know now must guide us in our review and approval processes and should become the basis of a bold new precautionary approach - an approach that puts the burden of evidence on safety first."

Globally, 15-18 million children in developing countries suffer permanent brain damage from lead poisoning, according to the WHO.

In Europe, lead poisoning in children under five accounts for an estimated 470,000 'Disability Adjusted Life Years' (DALYs), a measure calculated to include both years of life lived with disability and years of life lost. This corresponds to 4.4% of all DALYs in children of this age.

Lead poisoning can lead to brain dysfunction including neuro-developmental impairment, learning disabilities, attention deficit, poor motor skills and poor language development, as well as anaemia.

Average blood levels, however, vary widely across Europe.

In 2001, the estimated percentage of children in urban areas with elevated lead levels in their blood ranged from 0.1% to 30.2%, according to the WHO.

Yet simple steps, such as eliminating lead additives in petrol, have led to a decrease in blood lead levels in some European countries, it adds.

In Malta, for instance, the marketing and distribution of leaded petrol was banned in January 2003 and regulations were previously introduced to control the import of red lead paint and to prohibit the use of lead-treated wood as fuel in bakeries.

Blood lead levels of pregnant women and new-born babies decreased by 45.6% between 1985-96.

By contrast, in countries where unleaded petrol is neither produced nor imported, the proportion of children with elevated blood lead levels "is frequently above 10% and occasionally well above 50%", the WHO claims.

Moreover, thousands of other chemicals produced in Europe can also lead to lower IQ levels, neurodevelopmental disorders, reproductive disorders, including birth defects and cancer in children, the WHO cautions.

But cause-effect relationships remain difficult to establish, with many chemicals having uncertain suspected or potential latent long-term effects.

The Budapest conference, the fourth in a series of meetings held every five years by the WHO since 1989, will bring together representatives of health and environment ministries, plus governmental and civil society groups.

Chemicals are one of four 'regional priority goals' that will be addressed, along with water and sanitation, injuries and adequate physical activity as well as air pollution.

New research by the World Health Organization and Italy's Udine University has revealed that up to one-third of children in some European urban areas have elevated lead levels in their blood.

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/lead/en/ http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/lead/en/

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