Predicted Mercury Soil Concentrations from a Kriging Approach for Improved Human Health Risk Assessment

David Imo, Holger Dressel, Katarzyna Byber, Christine Hitzke, Matthias Bopp, Marion Maggi, Stephan Bose-O’Reilly, Leonhard Held and Stefanie Muff
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David Imo: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich & University Hospital Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Holger Dressel: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich & University Hospital Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Katarzyna Byber: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich & University Hospital Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Christine Hitzke: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich & University Hospital Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Matthias Bopp: Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Marion Maggi: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich & University Hospital Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Stephan Bose-O’Reilly: Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Munich, LMU Munich, WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health, Ziemssenstraße 1, D-80336 Munich, Germany
Leonhard Held: Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Stefanie Muff: Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: Health-risks from contaminated soils are assessed all over the world. An aspect that many risk assessments share is the heterogeneity in the distribution of contaminants. In a preceding study, we assessed potential health-risks for mothers and children living on mercury-contaminated soils in Switzerland using human biomonitoring-values (HBM) and soil samples. We assessed 64 mothers and 107 children who had resided in a defined area for at least 3 months. HBM-concentrations for mercury in urine and hair were measured, a detailed questionnaire was administered for each individual, and more than 4000 individual mercury soil values were obtained in 2015. In this study, we aimed at investigating possible associations of mercury soil- and HBM-values by re-analyzing our data, using predictions of the mercury concentrations at the exact location of the participant’s homes with a kriging approach. Although kriging proved to be a useful method to predict mercury soil concentrations, we did not detect an association between mercury soil- and HBM-values, in agreement with earlier findings. Benefits of geostatistical methods seem to be limited in the context of our study. Conclusions made in our preceding study about potential health risks for the residential population are robust and not altered by the current study.

Keywords: human biomonitoring; geostatistics; kriging; children and mothers; health risk assessment; environmental epidemiology; mercury (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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