Historical mining activities in the village of Kaňk (in the northern part of the Kutná Hora ore district, Czech Republic) produced large amounts of mine wastes which contain significant amounts of metal(loid) contaminants such as As, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Given the proximity of residential communities to these mining residues, we investigated samples of mine waste (n = 5), urban soil (n = 6), and road dust (n = 5) with a special focus on the solid speciation of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn using a combination of methods (XRD, SEM/EDS, oxalate extractions), as well as on in vitro bioaccessibility in simulated gastric and lung fluids to assess the potential exposure risks for humans. Bulk chemical analyses indicated that As is the most important contaminant in the mine wastes (~1.15 wt%), urban soils (~2900 mg/kg) and road dusts (~440 mg/kg). Bioaccessible fractions of As were quite low (4-13%) in both the simulated gastric and lung fluids, while the bioaccessibility of metals ranged between <0.01% (Pb) and 68% (Zn). The bioaccessibilities of the metal(loid)s were dependent on the mineralogy and different adsorption properties of the metal(loid)s. Based on our results, a potential health risk, especially for children, was recognized from the ingestion of mine waste materials and highly contaminated urban soil. Based on the risk assessment, arsenic was found to be the element posing the greatest risk.

BackgroundTo confirm or refute the hypothesis that the morbidity of children (since birth to age 5) born and living in the heavily polluted (PM10, benzo[a]pyrene) eastern part of Ostrava, Czech Republic, was higher than the morbidity of children living in other parts of the city.MethodsTen pediatricians in 5 districts of Ostrava abstracted the medical records of 1878 children born in 2001–2004 to list all illnesses of each child in ICD-10 codes. The children were divided into four groups according to their residence at birth and thereafter. Most of the children in the eastern area were living in the city district Radvanice and Bartovice.ResultsWe report on the incidence of acute illnesses in 1535 children of Czech ethnicity in the first 5 years of life. The most frequent acute illnesses (over 45% of all diagnoses) were upper respiratory infections (URI: J00-J02, J06). In the first year of life, the incidence of URI in 183 children in the eastern area – 372 illnesses/100 children/year – was more than twice as high as in the other 3 areas with a total number of 1352 children. From birth to the age of 5 years, the incidences of pneumonia, tonsillitis, viral infections (ICD-10 code B34) and intestinal infectious diseases were also several times higher in children living in the eastern part of Ostrava. The lowest morbidity was found in children living in the less polluted western part of the city.ConclusionsThe children born and living in the eastern part of the city of Ostrava had from birth through 5 years significantly higher incidence rates of acute illnesses than children in other parts of Ostrava. They also had a higher prevalence of wheezing, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis.

A longitudinal study launched in 1994 within the framework of the Teplice Programme aimed at comparing the respiratory morbidity in children born (1994-1998) and living in the districts of Teplice (TE) and Prachatice (PRA) in the Czech Republic. Lists of all illnesses of 960 children from birth to 10 years of age were obtained from paediatric medical records. From 26,471 diagnoses (in ICD-10 codes), 34.7% were diagnoses of upper respiratory infections (URI, J00-02, J06), 11.3% of tonsillitis, 10.2% of influenza, 9.4% of bronchitis, 8.9% of laryngitis/tracheitis (J04), 2.7% of otitis media, and 0.5% of pneumonia. The more polluted district of Teplice was divided into two parts: the town itself (TE-town) and the rest of the district (TE-district). The cumulative incidence rates of the above respiratory illnesses per 100 children per 10 years were 2,212 in TE-town, 2,192 in PRA and 1,985 in TE-district. In the first two years of life, the children from TE-town had a significantly higher incidence of laryngitis/tracheitis, influenza, otitis media, and pneumonia and significantly lower incidence of bronchitis and tonsillitis than children living in PRA. The incidence rates of laryngitis/tracheitis and influenza in TE-town persisted as the highest among the three regions till the age of 10 years. The incidence rates of bronchitis (from the 1st to 5th year) and URI (from 4th to 10th year) were highest in children living in PRA. When compared to TE-town, children in TE-district had a higher incidence of upper respiratory infections (1-8 years) and lower incidence of bronchitis (6-8 years). Children in the district of Prachatice had a significantly higher prevalence of allergic rhinitis and a lower prevalence of wheezing than children in the district of Teplice. Thus, the three regions differed by the spectra of respiratory illnesses rather than by overall morbidity and, hypothetically, the effects of air pollution were obscurred by differences in the degree of urbanization.

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People living on both sides of the German–Czech border are subject to episodes of odor air pollution. A joint German–Czech air sampling and risk assessment project was established to identify the substances responsible and their sources. Twenty-four volunteer study participants, 14 from the NW Czech Republic and 10 from Germany (Saxony) reported odors and collected canister samples during sampling periods in winter 2017 and 2018 and autumn 2018. Canister samples and passive samplers were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and passive samplers were analyzed for VOCs and carbonyls. OAVs (Odor Activity Values) and back trajectories were calculated with the aim of identifying the odor sources. Calculated OAVs were in excellent agreement with perceived smells close to an oil processing plant. Odorants identified in fifty canister samples during odor episodes and carbonyl measurements close to the edible oil processing plant were used for health evaluation. Odors reported by participants in Saxony frequently differed from those reported by participants in the Czech Republic. This suggests that certain sources of odor lying on either side of the border only affect that side and not the other with similar considerations regarding health effects. VOCs, including carbonyls, were also sampled at two relatively remote locations during winters of 2017 and 2018; two main sources of odorous compounds were identified at these sites. Analysis of samples taken at sampling sites shows that VOC air pollution and, to a lesser extent carbonyl pollution, originate from both industrial and local sources. Even though levels of sampled substances were not associated with acute effects at any site, long-term exposures to selected compounds could be cause for concern for carcinogenicity at some sites. Odors in Seiffen were associated with carcinogenic compounds in can samples. Although not necessarily representative of long-term exposures to the compounds studied, results such as these suggest that further study is needed to better quantify long-term exposure to potentially harmful compounds, and to either confirm or deny the existence of substantive health risk.

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Cílem projektu bylo zjistit, zda znečištění arzenem a kovy ze spalování a těžby uhlí mohou ovlivňovat incidenci nemelanomových kožních nádorů (C44) u obyvatel Podkrušnohoří, kde se historicky těžily i polymetalické rudy.Metodika: V projektu GA ČR, probíhajícím v letech 2017-2019 jsme pomocí dotazníků u pacientů sledovali vztah faktorů životního prostředí, životního stylu, koníčků a stravování k incidenci nemelanomových kožních nádorů. Účast pacientů byla dobrovolná, získaná data anonymní. Zároveň probíhala měření znečištění ovzduší arzenem a kovy v aerosolových částicích PM 10 v Lomu u Mostu a v Sokolově. Data byla statisticky zpracována pomocí Excelu a R+ regresním modelem. Studie se účastnilo celkem 69 mužů a 69 žen včetně kontrol.Výsledky: V Podkrušnohoří jsou i po významných opatřeních emitovány z velkých zdrojů do ovzduší stovky kilogramů těžkých kovů. Perzistentních látek v prostředí tak přibývá pomaleji než dříve. Incidence nádorových onemocnění včetně kožních nádorů však narůstá, i když je koncentrace karcinogenů v ovzduší nízká. Na vině může být protrahovaná expozice během života nemocných. Ve srovnání s ostatními okresy republiky je incidence onemocnění nemelanomovými kožními nádory v Podkrušnohoří nižší.Závěr: Výsledky potvrzují převahu kožních nádorů u mužů. Významným faktorem u nemocných byla práce ve venkovním prostředí a styku s chemickými látkami. Vyšší expozici pravděpodobně přineslo zahrádkaření a spotřeba vypěstovaných produktů. Dlouhodobý vývoj nádorového onemocnění přináší odůvodněný požadavek na to, aby expozice populace karcinogenním látkám byla řešena.

Odběr vzorků vlasů byl doplněn dotazníkem. Výsledky byly statisticky zpracovány a porovnány s literárními hodnotami. Arzen a těžké kovy byly sledovány i v tuhém aerosolu a sedimentovaném prachu.Výsledky: Výsledky analýz vlasů dětí byly u obou pohlaví bez rozdílu. Mezi vzorky ze Sokolovské a Mostecké uhelné pánve byly statisticky významné rozdíly v obsahu Cd a V. Biomonitoring byl doplněn měřením sedimentované prašnosti na 10 místech a monitoringem aerosolových částic PM 10 na 2 místech, včetně analýzy arzenu a kovů. Výsledky nepřekračovaly dlouhodobé imisní limity.Závěr: Výsledky analýzy vlasů jsou částečně srovnatelné se sledováním v Systému monitorování zdravotního stavu obyvatelstva ČR ve vztahu k životnímu prostředí vydávaném Státním zdravotním ústavem. Velká část vybraných prvků byla analyzována pod mezí stanovitelnosti. Koncentrace prvků vyjádřené mediánem z Mostecké uhelné pánve: As 0