Estimated daily intake of cadmium by children living in the city of Nis, Serbia.

Cadmium is widely abundant in the air, water, soils and foodstuffs. Cadmium exposure and accumulation in the body start at a young age. Accumulation occurs in various tissues and organs, especially in the kidney cortex. This study was initiated to examine the total intake of cadmium among preschool children. The study group consisted of 275 children aged 1 to 6 years. Estimation of daily intake of cadmium was calculated using the recommended formula, which takes into consideration all the potential means of children's exposure to cadmium. The average daily cadmium intake in children aged 1 to 3 years was 1.06 microg/kg, while for the children aged 4 to 6 years, the average daily cadmium intake was 1.06 microg/kg. Biomonitoring methods were used to assess the effects of a contaminated environment on the children's health. Our research showed that children take in the highest amount of cadmium from food. It is estimated that by the age of 1-3 years, children have accumulated 1.31 mg of cadmium in the body, while those aged 4-6 years have accumulated 8.80 mg. The persistence in the environment of this metal requires a long-term move toward minimizing human exposure through environmental management and preservation of lower cadmium levels wherever possible.

Mortality of Roma population in Serbia, 2002-2005.

AIM: To describe and compare mortality and population changes in the Roma and non-Roma population in Serbia in 2002 and 2005. METHODS: The number of cases of death were obtained from the 2002 and 2005 Mortality Database and population data from the Population Census 2002. Standardized sex specific rates of non-traumatic and traumatic mortality in 2002 and 2005 were calculated in relation to the European standard population. We presented population pyramid and aging index for both populations in 2002 and compared sex specific standardized traumatic and non-traumatic mortality rates and the average age of death for 2002 and 2005. The causes of death were coded according to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) groups, and the proportional mortalities in the year 2002 and 2005 were compared between the Roma and non-Roma population using chi2 test. RESULTS: Standardized mortality rates were higher in the Roma than in the general population. Non-traumatic mortality rate in Roma men in 2002 was 18.2 per 1000 and in slightly decreased to 18.0 per 1000 in 2005; it was significantly higher than in non-Roma men in both years (11.9 per 1000 in 2002 and 12.5 per 1000 in 2005; P<0.001). Standardized non-traumatic mortality rate in Roma women decreased significantly from 16.78 per 1000 in 2002 to 14.89 per 1000 in 2005 (P=0.014), but it was still significantly higher than in non-Roma women (8.46 per 1000 in 2002 and 8.84 per 1000 in 2005; P<0.001). Morbidity structure indicated that the most common causes of death in the Roma population were cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, and respiratory system diseases. In relation to the general population respiratory system diseases were denoted as main causes of deaths in significantly higher percent (6% vs 3% in 2002 and 7% vs 4% in 2005; P<0.001) and cardiovascular diseases in significantly lower percent (44%:55% in 2002 and 46%:57%; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that mortality rates in the Roma population are significantly higher than in the general population, and morbidity structure of the most common causes of death significantly different from that of general population.

[Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and respiratory symptoms in school children of Nis].

INTRODUCTION: There is relatively strong evidence among children showing that passive smoking is associated with respiratory symptoms and respiratory diseases, but few studies have been carried out in Serbian population. OBJECTIVE: Establishment of association between exposure to tobacco smoke within family and prevalence of the upper and lower respiratory symptoms in school children. METHOD: In this descriptive epidemiological study, studied population consisted of 533 school children, 12.96 +/- 1.54 years old, residents of Nis town, from the area with identical open air pollution. Environmental tobacco smoke exposure was recorded in 382 children. Data about symptoms in children, conditions of habitation, presence of pets and hereditary predisposition were entered into structured questionnaire. RESULTS T-test and X2-test statistics showed no significant difference of living conditions, hereditary predisposition among children and average time which passive smoker and nonsmoker children spent indoors. In both groups, the upper respiratory symptoms were more frequent (42.4%-80.2%) in comparison to lower respiratory symptoms (14.4%-25.7%). There was significant difference of the upper and lower respiratory symptoms between the exposed children and control group (X2 =9.7 > X2 (1.005 = 3.8, p > 0.05--for the upper and X2 = 4.4 > X2 (1.005) = 3.8, p > 0.05--for the lower respiratory symptoms). Primary health care need for respiratory symptoms and diseases due to effect of passive smoking was higher in the exposed children. CONCLUSION: The results provide evidence of adverse respiratory effects of passive smoking to children being exposed to smoke in domestic setting. These findings emphasize the need for effective measures of prevention of involuntary smoking during childhood in Serbia.