561 research outputs found
Hair lead levels to evaluate the subclinical impact of lead on growth in Sardinian children (Italy)
No full textObjectives: The aim of this study was to determine if there are significant relationships between lead concentrations
in children’s hair and height, sitting height, and estimated leg length.
Methods: We analyzed three samples collected at different times: 1998, 2002, 2007. The total sample consisted of 825
children between 11 and 14 years of age living in different municipalities of Sardinia (Italy). Inductively coupled plasma
atomic emission spectrometry (1998), inductively coupled plasma atomic absorption spectrometry (2002), and inductively
coupled mass spectrometry (2007) were used to measure the lead concentration in hair (PbH). Some AAS measurements
were also performed on the 1998 and 2007 samples to check the reliability of the data.
Results: The mean PbH is much higher in 1998 (5.84 lg/g) than in 2002 (1.49 lg/g) and 2007 (0.78 lg/g). Multivariate
regression analysis of the three samples, controlling for age and sex, indicates a subclinical impact of lead on growth
that differs according to the mean lead concentration in the hair. In fact, for 1998, the relationships between all three
anthropometric variables and logPbH are significantly negative. For 2002, there are significant negative associations
between height and estimated leg length and logPbH but not between sitting height and logPbH. For 2007, there are
not significant associations between logPbH and anthropometric variables.
Conclusions: Our results support the use of hair lead levels as a biomarker to assess the impact of subclinical lead
on the physical growth of children, especially when the study area presents medium and/or high levels of lead pollution
Evaluation of association between biomarkers of lead exposure in Sardinian children (Italy)
No full textThe aim of this work is to verify whether there are statistically significant correlations between the concentrations of lead in blood, urine, and hair in children. The sample collected in 2007 consists of 163 children of both sexes from 11-14-year-olds, living in three municipalities of Sardinia (Italy). Inductively coupled plasma atomic mass spectrometry has been used in the determination of lead concentration in biological material. For the overall sample, there is a non-significant partial correlation among the three matrices. However, for subjects with blood lead levels ≥5 μg/dL, there is a significant positive partial correlation between the lead levels in blood and hair, but not between blood and urine or between urine and hair. The results suggest that blood is the preferred biomarker to ascertain lead exposure in human populations, whereas hair can be used as a tool screening when an area is exposed to medium or high lead pollution
Hair lead levels in boys and girls from two Sardinian communities with different environmental backgrounds
No full textTown and gender effects on hair lead levels in children from three Sardinian towns (Italy) with different environmental backgrounds
No full textThis study reports hair lead (PbH) levels measured in 2002 in 193 children from three Sardinian towns: Carbonia, Gonnesa, and Sinnai. Carbonia and Gonnesa are in a polluted area of Sardinia due to their vicinity to the industrial zone of Portovesme. As a consequence of its economy and location, Sinnai is not exposed to lead pollution. PbH concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic absorption spectrometry. The aim of this study was to evaluate if hair is a reliable biomarker to determine different degrees of exposure of populations to lead pollution and if there is a tendency to higher accumulation by males or females. The girls of Carbonia had the highest mean PbH value (2.21 mu g/g), followed by the Gonnesa girls (2.03 mu g/g), Carbonia boys (1.86 mu g/g), Gonnesa boys (0.91 mu g/g), and finally the Sinnai boys (0.68 mu g/g) and girls (0.50 mu g/g). Two-way analysis of covariance, with age as covariate, revealed a significant effect of town and sex on log PbH. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient indicated a significant positive concordance between PbH levels and gender (score for males = 1, females = 2). The results suggest that hair is a reliable biomarker to determine different levels of exposure of populations to lead pollution, and they indicate that females tend to accumulate lead in the hair more than males of the same age
Correlation between blood and hair lead levels in boys and girls of Sardinia (Italy)
No full textThe aim of this study was to analyse the correlation between blood lead (PbB) and hair lead
(PbH) in Sardinian children. Th e sample consisted of 330 children (126 boys and 204 girls) from three
Sardinian towns with diff erent environmental backgrounds: Portoscuso, Sant’Antioco, and Sestu. Th e boys
of Portoscuso have the highest median value of PbB (10.86 μg/dL), followed by the girls of Portoscuso (7.24
μg/dL); they are followed, but with much lower values, by the boys of Sant'Antioco (4.22 μg/dL) and Sestu
(4.06 μg/dL), and lastly by the girls of Sant'Antioco (3.50 μg/dL) and Sestu (3.39 μg/dL). Th ere is a similar
pattern for the PbH values: the Portoscuso boys have the highest median value (10.00 μg/g), followed by
the Portoscuso girls (7.21 μg/g), Sant'Antioco boys (5.44 μg/g), Sant’Antioco girls (4.69 μg/g) and fi nally
the Sestu boys (3.79 μg/g) and girls (1.56 μg/g). Th e values of the Bravais-Pearson coeffi cient of correlation
between logPbB and logPbH are statistically signifi cant both for the total sample (r=0.4351; p≤0.001)
and for the sexes considered separately (r=0.3989, p≤0.001, for males; r=0.3801, p≤0.001, for females). It
should be noted that a high percentage of unexplained variance persists in the total sample (81.07%) and in
males (84.09%) and females (85.55%) separately. Th e pattern among samples with diff erent environmental
backgrounds and the signifi cant correlations between the logPbB and logPbH values suggest that hair can be
used as a suitable biomarker of lead exposure
Offspring from endogamic vs. exogamic matings: absence of anthropometric differences among Sardinian children (Italy)
No full textThis study evaluates possible differences in body dimensions among children from matings of different
exogamy levels. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 867 children, 435 males, and 432 females, 6–10 years old,
attending elementary schools in the metropolitan area of Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia (Italy). The children were divided
into two groups according to the level of exogamy. The first group consisted of children of parents born in the
same Sardinian municipality and was considered endogamous sensu stricto. The second group included children of
parents born in municipalities from different Sardinian linguistic domains and was considered exogamous. The Mann–
Whitney test did not reveal significant differences between the two groups of children in the mean rank values of the
36 anthropometric variables considered, with the exception of cephalic circumference in males and chest depth in
females. In particular, there were no significant differences for anthropometric variables considered to be indirect indicators
of nutritional status: sum of skinfolds, waist/hip ratio, body mass index, total upper arm area, upper arm muscle
area, and upper arm fat area. The results indicate that Sardinian children from marriages of different exogamy levels
do not differ in body dimensions if they grow up with similar nutritional and socioeconomic conditions
Livelli di As, Pb e U in bambine di due Comuni della Sardegna a differente retroterra ambientale: Perdasdefogu ed Jerzu
No full textGrowth charts of head length and breadth for regional areas? A study in Sardinia (Italy)
No full textThere exist few standards of head length and breadth from childhood to adulthood in Europoid populations. Moreover, such standards are based on samples that cannot be used as references for all populations since they were taken from different ethnic groups and from different periods. The aims of this study were: (1) to test whether standards derived from North Americans of European extraction can be used to assess the Sardinian population; and (2) to produce growth charts for head length and breadth for Sardinian males and females from 3 to 22 years of age.The cross sectional sample consisted of 9,721 subjects of Sardinian origin (4,884 males and 4,837 females), aged 3-22 years, measured from 1998 to 2008. Growth percentiles were produced with the LMS method. The mean values for each sex in each age class (3-18 years) are almost always significantly lower for both head length and breadth than the corresponding North American values. The exceptions are the head length of boys of 14 years and girls of 16-18 years where values for Sardinians are lower, but not significantly so. The results show that the North American standards are not appropriate for the assessment of Sardinian children. For the Sardinian population, specific regional growth charts should be used to correctly evaluate the normal range and the cut-off points of the extreme percentiles
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