Abstract
Baia Mare is a municipality in northwestern Romania and the main city of Maramures County. As it is located in a region having a lot of non ferrous metals and precious metals deposits, an intensive activity of mining and metallurgy has been developed. The municipality of Baia Mare currently has a total population of 137,976 of which some 7,128 peoples are living in Ferneziu area, situated in the northwest of the city. This population is the most exposed to high risks of current or historical heavy metal pollution because it is living within the very closed area around the metallurgical factory of lead smelter. This paper will deal with the actual and historical pollution with heavy metals and with the health problems caused by current air pollution and risks related to historical soil pollution. The most important risk sources for the people of Baia Mare are current air pollution and soil contamination resulted from historical pollution from two large metallurgical factories located within the town. The lead level in blood of children has drastically diminished during the last 20 years but there exists still about 40% of children having values over 10 μg/100 mL that indicate lead exposure and potential health risk. A special issue is registered in Ferneziu area which needs a special investigation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APMMM: Report on environmental quality statement in Maramures County, 2008, 2009 and 2010. www.apmmm.ro
APMMM: Integrated Programme of Air Quality Monitoring for Baia Mare Metropolitan Area, 2010. www.apmmm.ro
APMMM: The map of soil pollution with heavy metals in Baia Mare, 1998 (not published)
Bindea V., Lobonţiu G.: Poisoning with lead. Educational prevention mesures.(in Romanian). Paper prepared within the Project ECO SOC 1999 join with the Nedarland Ambassy in Bucharest.
Bruce P. Lanphear, Richard Hornung, Jane Khoury, Kimberly Yolton, Peter Baghurst, David C. Bellinger, Richard L. Canfield, Kim N. Dietrich, Robert Bornschein, Tom Greene, Stephen J. Rothenberg, Herbert L. Needleman, Lourdes Schnaas, Gail Wasserman, Joseph Graziano, and Russell Roberts. Low-Level Environmental Lead Exposure and Children’s Intellectual Function: An International Pooled Analysis. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 July; 113(7): 894–899. Published online 2005 March 18. doi: 10.1289/ehp.7688
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (2008, May 5). Children More Vulnerable To Harmful Effects Of Lead. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 5, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504095623.htm
Duke University (2009, October 20). Children's Blood Lead Levels Linked To Lower Test Scores. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 5, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019172630.htm
Fülöp A., Văscan S.: Lead-contaminated soils from Ferneziu, North-Estern district of Baia Mare. Environment and Progress 2/2004 (Cluj Napoca, Romania), p. 139-143
Gurzău E. Risk assessment of the exposure on lead, arsenium, cadmium, sulfur dioxide an powder suspensions for a population group located within the area of the influence of ROMPLUMB factory. In: Risk assessment study for ROMPLUMB, 2000 (report, in Romanian)
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (2007, April 4). How Lead Exposure Produces Learning Deficits. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 5, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070403134507.htm
Karin Koller; Terry Brown; Anne Spurgeon; Len Levy. Recent Developments in Low-Level Lead Exposure and Intellectual Impairment in Children. Posted: 06/30/2004; Environmental Health Perspectives.2004;112(9) ©2004National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Moldovan C., Butnaru D: Soil Pollution with heavy metals in Baia Mare area. In: Scientific Bulletin of The North University of Baia Mare, Series D: Mining, Mineral Processing, Geology and Environmental Engineering (in Romanian), Volume V. 1991, p. 258-264.
Naylor M.: Behavioural Health Sciences, Sydney University Fact Sheet created 21 October 2005, Lead Poisoning And The Brain - Cognitive Deficits And Mental Illness, http://www.lead.org.au/fs/fst28.html
Nigg J. T., Nikolas M., Knottnerus G. M., Cavanagh K., Friderici K.: Confirmation and extension of association of blood lead with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ADHD symptom domains at population-typical exposure levels. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51:1 (2010), pp 58–65 doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02135.x
Joel T.Nigg, G. MarkKnottnerus, Michelle M.Martel, MollyNikolas, KevinCavanagh, WilfriedKarmaus, Marsha D.Rappley. Low Blood Lead Levels Associated with Clinically Diagnosed Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Mediated by Weak Cognitive Control. Official Journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, Volume 63, Issue 3, Pages 325-331 (1 February 2008), doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.07.013
Oros V.: Data on environmental pollution in Baia Mare. Scientific Bulletin of North University of Baia Mare, Series D: Mining, Mineral Processing, Geology and Environmental Engineering (in Romanian), Volume VII 1993, p. 69-75
Oros V., Roman S., Fulop A. Air pollution in Baia Mare and Health Hazards. International Conference Environmental Pollution and its Impact on Public Health, Brasov 16-19 July 2008. Published in: Bulletin of Transilvania University of Brasov, Vol. 15(50)-2008. Suplement Volume 2, pag. 559-566.
Pop Viorel., Oros Vasile., Pop Vasile. Ecological management in the Nagybanya industrial area. GEP Magazine no. 1, pag. 38-41, 2002, Hungary,
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Oros, V., Roman, S., Coman, M., Oros, A.D. (2011). Lead Occurrence in Children’s Biological Fluids from Baia Mare Area, Romania. In: Simeonov, L., Kochubovski, M., Simeonova, B. (eds) Environmental Heavy Metal Pollution and Effects on Child Mental Development. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0253-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0253-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0252-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0253-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)