Lead levels in umbilical cord blood in Belgium: a cross-sectional study in five maternity units.

The average blood lead concentration has significantly decreased over the last two decades among the general population. However, in Belgium, there are still high-risk populations such as groups of pregnant women who have shown elevated lead levels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current situation of lead cord blood levels and identify sources of lead exposure by a questionnaire survey. The study was conducted in 5 maternity units in Belgium; for each, umbilical cord blood samples were collected from 50 consecutive births. At the same time a questionnaire on possible sources of lead exposure was administered to the mother. The dependent variable was a dichotomous lead level variable (<20 µg/L vs. ≥ 20 µg/L). The factors associated with elevated lead levels (≥ 20 µg/L) were mother's country of origin from south Mediterranean and from Sub-Saharan Africa, mother's educational level, using 'tagine' plates for cooking and using khol for make-up, but, after adjusting for potential confounding factors, only the mother's country origin from south Mediterranean (adjusted odds ratio, 5.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.68-18.08; p=0.005) and from Sub-Saharan Africa (adjusted odds ratio, 8.14; 95% CI, 2.26-29.40; p=0.001) were significantly associated with elevated cord blood lead concentrations (≥ 20 µg/L). The results of this study are similar to those found by a previous study in Belgium in 2004. Sources of exposure are difficult to distinguish with this questionnaire, which might be due to other important sources of exposure that were not included in the questionnaire. Confirmation of these risk factors in future studies could lead to new prevention strategies for populations who are at risk for subsequent lead exposure.

Fourth WHO-coordinated survey of human milk for persistent organic pollutants (POPs): Belgian results.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemicals that accumulate in the food chain and are toxic to humans and wildlife. The fourth World Health Organization (WHO) survey on POP levels in human milk (2006-2009) aims to provide baseline and trend information on human exposure to POPs. So far Belgium participated in all three previous rounds (1988, 1992, 2001). Whereas the first three rounds focused on determination of dioxins and PCBs in pooled (mixed) samples, the fourth survey comprised the analyses of individual milk samples for nine "basic POPs" (chlorinated pesticides and indicator PCBs) and of pooled milk samples for "basic POPs", "advanced POPs" (dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs) and "optional POPs" (polybrominated diphenylethers [PBDEs], polybrominated dioxins and dibenzofurans [PBrDD/F], mixed halogenated dioxins and dibenzofurans [PXDD/F] and hexabromocyclododecane [HBCD]). For the Belgian participation human milk samples were collected during the summer of 2006 from 197 women between 18 and 30 years old distributed over all Belgian provinces. The individual samples were analyzed in a Belgian Laboratory for "basic" POPs. A pooled sample was made from 178 individual samples and analyzed by the WHO Reference Laboratory for the "basic, advanced and optional" POPs. The results indicate that most organochlorinated pesticides banned 25-30 years ago were below or around detection limits in Belgian human milk samples although DDE was still found at low levels in all samples. Over the last five years the levels of marker PCBs and PCDD/Fs in Belgian human milk decreased, respectively, by 58% and 39%. For some of the other emerging or older compounds recent international data are needed to allow comparison. This shows the importance of international studies as run by WHO.

Effect of chronic ethanol ingestion on Purkinje and Golgi cell firing in vivo and on motor coordination in mice.

As motor coordination impairment is a common symptom of acute and chronic alcohol intoxication, different studies have been conducted on cerebellar Purkinje cell sensitivity to ethanol since Purkinje cell firing constitutes the final integrative output of the cerebellar cortex. However, the effects of chronic ethanol ingestion on Purkinje firing and other cerebellar neurons such as Golgi cells remain unknown. Here, we studied the extracellular discharge of Purkinje and Golgi cells in four groups of non-anesthetized mice drinking ad libitum either 0%, 6%, 12% or 18% ethanol isocallorically compensated with sucrose 25% during a 3-month period. No difference in Golgi cell firing was found with respect to ethanol consumption. The only group that presented significant differences in Purkinje cell firing compared to the other groups was the 18% ethanol-drinking group. These mice presented decreased simple spike and complex spike firing and increased complex spike duration and pause. The 18% ethanol-drinking group was also the only one to present a slight but significant motor coordination impairment (evaluated by rotarod and runway) in naïve task. No motor coordination impairment was noticed in task learned before ethanol consumption. These results suggest that chronic high doses of ethanol are necessary to produce Purkinje cell firing alterations and measurable motor coordination impairment in naïve task. These alterations in Purkinje cell firing did not affect the ability to learn or to recall a motor coordination task.

Evaluation of equipment performance, patient dose, imaging quality, and diagnostic coincidence in five Mexico City mammography services.

BACKGROUND: Regulations concerning the use of x-rays in medical diagnoses were published in Mexico in 1997. In this work, we evaluate technical aspects of mammography services in the Mexico City area and radiation dose and coincidence between the radiological interpretation by the institution radiologist and by a panel of experts. METHODS: Following methodology proposed by the American College of Radiology and the European Community among others, we have evaluated the performance of six mammography systems in Mexico City public and private services. The studied services carry out approximately one half of the mammography studies in the capital's metropolitan area. RESULTS: The systems comply with 53-82% of a total of 31 applied quality control tests and measurements, which include the mammography unit, x-ray generation, collimation, automatic exposure control, compression devices, grid and image receptor, film processing, darkroom, viewboxes, dose, film rejection, and image quality. The elements that most frequently fail are film processing, darkroom, and light boxes; average ACR phantom score is 11.2 (9.5, 12.0); mean average glandular dose measured with the phantom is 1.00 (0.71-1.15) mGy, and measured in patients is 1.75 (0.3, 4.9) mGy; coincidence between radiologic reports (BI-RADS) by the institution radiologist and a panel of experts is obtained in 35% of studied cases. CONCLUSIONS: Statistical analysis of results indicated that the level of equipment performance is correlated with image quality, image quality estimated by the panel of radiologists is correlated with phantom score, and coincidence in clinical mammography reports is not correlated with equipment performance and appears to depend on the radiologist's experience.