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Biomonitoring of the population exposed to airborne pollutant emissions from the industrial harbor of Fos-sur-Mer Volume 20, issue 4, July-August 2021

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Tables

Authors
1 Institut écocitoyen pour la connaissance des pollutions
Centre de Vie La Fossette
RD 268
13270 Fos-sur-Mer
France
2 Université de Rennes
Agrocampus Ouest
CNRS, UMR 6625 IRMAR
65, rue de Saint-Brieuc
F-35000 Rennes
France
3 ONIRIS-LABERCA
101, route de Gachet
F-44307 Nantes
France
4 Université Grenoble Alpes,
CNRS, Grenoble INP, CHU Grenoble Alpes, TIMC
621, avenue Centrale
38000 Grenoble
France
* Tirés à part

The INDEX biomonitoring study set out to investigate whether the residents living close to the core of the largest industrial zone of Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhone, France) were more highly exposed to industrial atmospheric pollutants (based on serum/urine biomarker concentrations) than people living further away (Saint-Martin-de-Crau), and to study the determinants of this exposure. A questionnaire was administered to 138 subjects (80 in the exposed area and 58 in the control area) from whom blood and urine samples were collected to measure several pollutants (heavy metals, PCBs, PCDD/Fs, benzene, and PAHs). Much of the exposure variability was attributed to individual physiological factors, diet, housing characteristics, leisure activities and history of smoking. However, after adjustment for these confounders, we found that particular behaviors such as gardening, consumption of home-grown vegetables, and consumption of local seafoods were significantly associated with a higher accumulation of some pollutants among residents of the industrial port zone compared to residents living further away, as a result of their use of an environment that is itself contaminated by industrial activity. This article focuses on zone-specific results. Our findings provide clues to understanding the pathways of the pollutants and their transfer from the environment to the human body in one of the largest industrial zones in Europe.