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Health and Environmental Hygiene

German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III)

Last changed: 11/01/2006

Metals in blood and urine

Exposure to heavy metals and arsenic of the general population has reached a low level but should still be kept under surveillance. The findings of GerES are valuable for the evaluation of smaller studies addressing specific problems. The concentrations of lead, cadmium, and mercury in blood are summarised in Table 1.

Table 2 shows the results for arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in urine.

In Table 3 the individual concentrations are compared with the HBM values which are defined by the Human Biomonitoring Commission (HBC) of the Federal Environment Agency.

Table 1: Lead, cadmium, and mercury in blood (µg/l) of the population in Germany (18 to 69 years of age, 1998)

		N	n<LOQ	P10	P50	P90	P95	P98	Max	AM	GM	CI GM
Pb-Blood (LOQ = 4.0 µg/l)
	Germany	4646	9	16.0	31.3	58.4	71.4	94.4	380	35.6	30.7	30.2	-	31.2
	West-Germany	3768	9	15.6	31.0	57.7	70.7	91.1	307	34.9	30.2	29.7	-	30.8
	East-Germany	877	0	17.2	33.1	62.0	79.5	112	380	38.3	32.9	31.8	-	34.1

Cd-Blood (LOQ = 0.12 µg/l)
	Germany	4645	257	0,15	0.38	1.73	2.34	3.18	16.0	0.70	0.44	0.42	-	0.45
	West-Germany	3768	215	0,15	0.38	1.75	2.37	3.29	16.0	0.70	0.43	0.42	-	0.45
	East-Germany	877	43	0,15	0.40	1.65	2.24	2.85	6.17	0.70	0.44	0.42	-	0.47

Hg-Blood (LOQ = 0.20 µg/l)
	Germany	4645	584	<0.20	0.64	1.77	2.32	3.31	12.3	0.86	0.58	0.57	-	0.60
	West-Germany	3766	497	<0.20	0.64	1.79	2.40	3.35	12.3	0.87	0.58	0.56	-	0.60
	East-Germany	879	87	<0.20	0.65	1.65	2.10	3.25	7.32	0.83	0.59	0.56	-	0.63

Notes:
LOQ = limit of quantification; N = sample size; n<LOQ = number of values below LOQ; values below LOQ are set at LOQ/2 for calculating purposes; 10, 50, 90, 95, 98 = percentiles; MAX = maximum value; AM = arithmetic mean; GM = geometric mean;
CI GM = approximate 95%-confidence interval for GM

Source:
German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III)

Table 2: Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in urine (µg/l and µg/g Creatinine) of the population in Germany (18 to 69 years of age, 1998)

		N	n<LOQ	P10	P50	P90	P95	P98	Max	AM	GM	CI GM
As-Urine (LOQ = 0.60 µg/l)
	Germany	4741	208	1.22	4.06	12.0	18.9	35.4	157	6.41	3.92	3.81	-	4.03
	West-Germany	3845	167	1.18	3.95	11.3	17.7	31.3	157	6.11	3.80	3.68	-	3.92
	East-Germany	896	40	1.36	4.53	15.4	27.2	48.6	147	7.68	4.47	4.18	-	4.79

As-Urine (µg/g Crea)
	Germany	4730		1.03	3.01	9.70	15.2	27.6	163	4.92	3.08	3.00	-	3.16
	West-Germany	3833		1.01	2.96	9.03	13.8	26.3	163	4.76	3.00	2.91	-	3.09
	East-Germany	896		1.13	3.20	12.4	18.9	32.6	62.5	5.62	3.44	3.22	-	3.67

Cd-Urine (LOQ = 0.05 µg/l)
	Germany	4740	152	0.08	0.22	0.68	0.96	1.34	31.5	0.335	0.227	0.221	-	0.232
	West-Germany	3844	134	0.08	0.22	0.68	0.96	1.37	31.5	0.336	0.225	0.218	-	0.231
	East-Germany	896	18	0.09	0.23	0.69	0.95	1.25	4.64	0.331	0.237	0.224	-	0.249

Cd-Urine (µg/g Crea)
	Germany	4728		0.06	0.18	0.55	0.73	1.08	22.4	0.267	0.178	0.174	-	0.183
	West-Germany	3832		0.06	0.18	0.57	0.74	1.10	22.4	0.270	0.177	0.172	-	0.182
	East-Germany	896		0.06	0.19	0.48	0.65	1.05	3.49	0.255	0.182	0.172	-	0.192

Hg-Urine (LOQ = 0.2 µg/l)
	Germany	4741	1375	<0.2	0.4	2.2	3.3	5.1	34.8	0.89	0.43	0.41	-	0.44
	West-Germany	3845	1124	<0.2	0.4	2.1	3.2	4.8	19.2	0.84	0.41	0.40	-	0.43
	East-Germany	896	252	<0.2	0.5	2.7	4.1	6.3	34.8	1.08	0.49	0.45	-	0.53

Hg-Urine (µg/g Crea)
	Germany	4730		0.1	0.3	1.4	2.0	2.8	16.0	0.59	0.34	0.33	-	0.35
	West-Germany	3833		0.1	0.3	1.3	1.9	2.7	16.0	0.57	0.33	0.32	-	0.34
	East-Germany	896		0.1	0.4	1.6	2.3	3.4	13.1	0.69	0.38	0.35	-	0.40

Source:
German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III)

Table 3: Percentages of the population in Germany with an elevated arsenic, lead, cadmium, or mercury content in blood and urine, 1998

			Germany		West-Germany		East-Germany
			n	%	n	%	n	%
Lead in blood
	Females in reproductive age (18 to 45 years of age)
		≤ HBM I (≤ 100 µg/l)	1269	99.3	1040	99.4	229	99.1
		> HBM I to HBM II (>100 to 150 µg/l)	5	0.4	4	0.4	1	0.5
		> HBM II (>150 µg/l)	3	0.3	2	0.2	1	0.5

	Females (>45 years), males (18 to 69 years)
		≤ HBM I (≤ 150 µg/l)	3353	99.6	2711	99.6	642	99.3
		> HBM I to HBM II (>150 to 250 µg/l)	13	0.4	10	0.4	3	0.5
		> HBM II (>250 µg/l)	2	0.1	1	0.03	1	0.2

Mercury in blood
	Adults (18 to 69 years)
		≤ HBM I (≤ 5 µg/l)	4613	99.3	3739	99.3	874	99.4
		> HBM I to HBM II (>5 to 15 µg/l)	32	0.7	27	0.7	5	0.6
		> HBM II (> 15 µg/l)	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0

Cadmium in urine
	Adults (18 to 25 years)
		≤ HBM I (≤1 µg/g Crea.)	600	99.5	489	99.4	111	100.0
		> HBM I to HBM II (>1 to 3 µg/g Crea.)	3	0.5	3	0.6	0	0.0
		> HBM II (>3 µg/g Crea.)	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0

	Adults (26 to 69 years)
		≤ HBM I (≤ 2 µg/g Crea)	4107	99.5	3325	99.5	782	99.6
		> HBM I to HBM II (>2 to 5 µg/g Crea.)	18	0.4	15	0.5	3	0.4
		> HBM II (>5 µg/g Crea.)	1	0.02	1	0.03	0	0.0

Mercury in urine
	Adults (18 to 69 years)
		≤ HBM I (≤ 5 µg/g Crea.)	4712	99.6	3821	99.7	891	99.4
		> HBM I to HBM II (>5 to 20 µg/g Crea.)	17	0.4	12	0.3	5	0.6
		> HBM II (>20 µg/g Crea.)	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0

Arsenic in urine
	Adults (18 to 69 years)
		WaBoLu-Category I (< 15 µg/l)	4403	92.9	3599	93.6	804	89.7
		WaBoLu-Categoriy II (15 bis 40 µg/l)	264	5.6	196	5.1	68	7.6
		WaBoLu-Category III (>40 µg/l)	74	1.6	50	1.3	24	2.7

Notes:
Due to rounding off, the figures do not add up to 100% in some cases.

Source:
German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III)

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