[APPLICATION OF BIOMONITORING METHODOLOGY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS].

In this article there are presented the current views on the technology for the assessment of the exposure to chemical pollutants with the use of the methodology of human biomonitoring and the main advantages of the latter are highlighted. There are presented main problems of the implementation of biomonitoring studies in Russia such as: beginning with the lack of the national system of the biomonitoring, and accomplishing with the inconsistency in the data within the country, the inability to assess the trend according to levels of exposure in the regional or national context. Due to the inconvenience of the Russian regulatory basis on human biomonitoring, there is persisted technological backwardness in terms of the delivery of the design, presentation and evaluation of research results, which results in the decline of the significance of biomonitoring for public health in the country. There is preserved a need for standardization and harmonization of methods and procedures of human biomonitoring (HBM) in Russia with international requirements. A serious concern is the lack of Russian programs on standardization of procedures and interlaboratcy comparison of results according to biomarkers of the exposure, the insufficient involvement of national laboratories in international programs of the comparison, the difficulties with the acquisition of standard samples of the compositionfor different environmental pollutants in biological tissues. The restraint ofthe development of HBM in the Russian Federation is caused by a complex of reasons. The most urgent task is the development of the national concept of the system with subsequent formation of technological, institutional and organizational framework of biomonitoring, as well as the improvement of Russian normative-methodical base.

[Application of a standardized-human biomonitoring methodology to assess prenatal exposure to mercury].

World Health Organization (WHO), in cooperation with the Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale (COPHES), has developed a standardized methodology for human biomonitoring (HBM) surveys in maternities in order to assess prenatal exposure to mercury. To test this standard methodology and adapt it to Russian settings, a cross-sectional HBM survey involving 120 parturient women was conducted in six maternities of the Moscow Region. Levels of total mercury in maternal hair (geometric mean: 0.21 µg/g, 95th percentile: 0.54 µg/g), cord blood (0.89 µg/L and 2.38 µg/L, respectively) and maternal urine (0.27 µg/L and 0.94 µg/L) in this population were similar to those in other European countries with relatively low fish consumption. Consumption of all types of fish at least once per week during the third trimester of pregnancy compared to fish consumption less than once per month was associated with the increase of geometric mean level of total mercury: in hair by 31% (95% confidence interval: 4%, 66%) higher, in cord blood--by 38% (9%, 74%) and in maternal urine--by 36% (2%, 81%). No biomarker values exceeded levels recommended by WHO or national agencies in the USA and Germany. However; at the population level, adverse effects of prenatal exposures to mercury can still be substantial.

Investigation of the efficiency of the sample pretreatment stage for the determination of the rare earth elements in rock samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique.

Different methods of rock sample digestion for final analysis by ICP-MS technique are investigated. It is shown that only basic rocks can be quantitatively digested in a microwave (MW) field with the mixture of HF and HNO(3) acids at 210°C for 60 min. The addition of HCl and H(3)BO(3) provides complete digestion of andesites and some types of granites. Even at maximal temperature in the used MW oven of 210°C syenites, granodiorites and albitized granites are not digested. These types of rocks are not digested in a closed Teflon autoclave for 16 h and can be digested only by fusion with lithium metaborate. The reason for such behavior is discussed. To avoid problems with the introduction of heavily acidic solutions after fusion in ICP the solutions were diluted. To compensate the loss of sensitivity due to the dilution step the REEs (Rare Earth Elements) pre-concentration using aminocarboxylic Pol-DETATA (diethyltriaminetetraacetate) sorbent was tested. The developed scheme is validated by the analysis of a wide range of reference rock materials.

[Development of a system for the early diagnosis and prevention of children's health changes caused by exposure to heavy metals].

At the moment, the making a diagnosis of an environment-induced disease in Russia is not routine and this is not relied on a rather evidence basis. Nevertheless, the choice of exposure methods from educational and preventive to therapeutic depends on the intensity and pattern of exposure to ecotoxicants and on the magnitude of appropriate specific changes. Epidemiological surveys of 5-7-year-old children from 3 towns of Russia have revealed that 8.3-24.5% of the children have moderate excesses of the allowable levels of lead in blood; 4.6-12.8% have excess hair magnesium levels, and 5.9-33.8% have excess hair copper levels. The real damage to the children's neuropsychic health manifests as a significant reduction in the memory and academic achievement indices, the parameters of fine and gross motor coordination, speech expressiveness, and in the rate of minor successive movements. The prevalence of environment-dependent neuropsychic malformations is 3-7%, as calculated with reference to all the children examined. The children aged 5-7 years are shown not to be in need of therapeutic measures in all the towns compared. At the same time, 61.1-83.2% of the children need neuropsychic health-promoting measures. For this, it is expedient to use informational and educational technologies. About 4.3-17.8 and 11.5 - 21.1% need primary and secondary preventive measures against environment-dependent neuropsychic changes. The authors present approaches to developing measures to promote neuropsychic health and to prevent neuropsychic malformations. There is evidence that primary prevention is more effective for the pediatric population. There is no question that multivariate analysis of the problems associated with childhood neuropsychic development, including environmental, behavioral, sociomedical components, is of importance. These approaches may be realized at the municipal level and taken as the basis for preparing national guidelines for the promotion of health and for the prevention of environment-dependent conditions in children.

Heavy and toxic metals in staple foodstuffs and agriproduct from contaminated soils.

This article presents basic data on the content of Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Hg, and Pb in staple foodstuffs and agriproduct grown in Russia (Astrakhan region and the town of Belovo) and Egypt (Helwan region). The dependence of the concentration of metals in agriproducts on the content and chemical form of existence in irrigation water and soils is indicated.

[Detection of lead in environmental objects and biologic materials during monitoring]. / Opredelenie svintsa v ob"ektakh okruzhaiushchei sredy i biologicheskikh substratakh pri provedenii monitoringa.

The authors specified methods to detect lead in biologic materials. The quality control covered use of Russian and foreign standard samples, the results proved to agree. Lead was detected by AAS technique (direct and flow-type variants with preliminary concentration of lead) and ELRA method. The authors determined measurement limits sufficient for analysis of complex biologic materials. The measurement range for lead varied from 0.002 mg/kg (plants) to 3,000 mg/kg (soil); the range of serum lead levels was < 0.5-39 mg/dl.