Bleiverunreinigung von trinkwasser durch leitungssysteme in Berlin

Assessment and management of tap water lead contamination in Lower Saxony, Germany

Lead is known to have numerous adverse effects especially to infants and children. The intake of lead through drinking water is commonly due to metal corrosion in the peripheral water distribution system, especially the user's plumbing. The aim of this project was to assess the present state of drinking water contamination with lead in Lower Saxony and to promote replacement of lead pipes. For this purpose a project was initiated comprising three parts. First, a free examination of drinking water was offered in cooperation with local public health departments for private households with young women and families with children living in buildings constructed before 1974. Participants were asked to collect a cold tap water sample in their household after nocturnal stagnation and to complete a questionnaire. The collected samples were analysed by atomic absorption spectrometry for their lead concentration. Second, data from local public health departments on results of lead measurements, especially in buildings for the public, were collected and analysed. Finally a working group 'lead replacement' was initiated. In the project in total 2436 tap water samples from households were collected. Of these, 6.49% had lead concentrations exceeding 10 microg/l (recommended limit of the World Health Organization) and 2.79% had concentrations above the limit of the German drinking water ordinance (25 microg/l). There were remarkable regional differences in the frequency of tap water contamination. Multi-family houses were more frequently affected than single- and double-family houses.

Lead exposure by drinking water: an epidemiologial study in Hamburg, Germany

Study objective was to investigate the extent of lead exposure via tap water in Hamburg and the relevance of preventive strategies. Two hundred and forty-eight non-smoking young women participated in the cross-sectional study program and 52 women completed the intervention program. In the cross-sectional study program most women (N = 178) didn't know anything about the material of the plumbing system at their homes. Participants with lead in the tap water above the detection limit of 5 microg/l (N = 142) showed significantly higher blood lead levels (median 31 microg/l) compared to those with no detectable lead in the tap water (N = 106; median blood lead 24 microg/l, p < = 0.001). There is a close correlation between the average lead concentration in the tap water and blood lead concentrations (N = 142 value pairs, Spearman's rho 0.43, p < = 0.0001). In the intervention program, the women were asked to minimize exposure by flushing water or to exclude it by consuming bottled water. Intervention lowered blood lead-level significantly (median decrease of 11 microg/l, p < = 0.001). "Minimizers" could lower their blood lead levels by about 21% of the initial value, "excluders" by about 37% (ns, p < = 0.17). The majority judged neither minimizing nor excluding tap water as practicable health preventive behaviour pattern in the long run. Lead in tap water stands for an avoidable surplus exposure. These results underline the relevance of health care preventive measures for the most sensitive groups.