Grégoire Falq

Development of Land Use Regression Models for PM2.5, PM2.5 Absorbance, PM10 and PMcoarse in 20 European Study Areas; Results of the ESCAPE Project

Land Use Regression (LUR) models have been used increasingly for modeling small-scale spatial variation in air pollution concentrations and estimating individual exposure for participants of cohort studies. Within the ESCAPE project, concentrations of PM(2.5), PM(2.5) absorbance, PM(10), and PM(coarse) were measured in 20 European study areas at 20 sites per area. GIS-derived predictor variables (e.g., traffic intensity, population, and land-use) were evaluated to model spatial variation of annual average concentrations for each study area. The median model explained variance (R(2)) was 71% for PM(2.5) (range across study areas 35-94%). Model R(2) was higher for PM(2.5) absorbance (median 89%, range 56-97%) and lower for PM(coarse) (median 68%, range 32- 81%). Models included between two and five predictor variables, with various traffic indicators as the most common predictors. Lower R(2) was related to small concentration variability or limited availability of predictor variables, especially traffic intensity. Cross validation R(2) results were on average 8-11% lower than model R(2). Careful selection of monitoring sites, examination of influential observations and skewed variable distributions were essential for developing stable LUR models. The final LUR models are used to estimate air pollution concentrations at the home addresses of participants in the health studies involved in ESCAPE.

Blood lead levels in the adult population living in France the French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS 2006-2007)

BACKGROUND The French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS) was conducted in order to describe food consumption and levels of various biomarkers in the general population. In this paper, we aimed to assess the distribution of blood lead levels (BLL) in the adult population living in France. METHOD ENNS was a cross-sectional survey carried out in the general population. Participants (18-74years of age) were sampled using a three-stage probability design stratified by geographical areas and degrees of urbanization. Collected data included biochemical samples, anthropometric measurements, socio-demographic characteristics, and environmental and occupational exposure. RESULTS In 2006/2007, 2029 adults were included in the survey on lead. The blood lead geometric mean (GM) in the population living in France was 25.7μg/L [24.9-26.5]. The overall prevalence of elevated BLL (>100μg/L) was 1.7% [1.1-2.3%]. Levels were significantly higher in males than in females, and increased with age, smoking status and alcohol consumption. Other factors significantly associated with BLL were leisure activities, occupational category, age of housing unit, birth place and shellfish/crustacean consumption. CONCLUSION For the first time a survey provides national estimates of BLL for the adult population in France. Comparison with results from a previous study among men aged 18-28years showed that the GM dropped more than 60% in the last 10years. The distribution of BLL in France was quite similar to that observed in other European countries.