Monitoring of lead levels in children following the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris

The fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 15, 2019, caused widespread environmental lead contamination as a result of the burning of the building’s roof and spire. In the weeks following the fire, environmental samples were collected to map lead fallout and guide public health investigations. Enhanced public health surveillance measures were implemented, and prevention and management strategies were recommended by the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS). Following the ARS’s recommendations for lead poisoning screening, monitoring of children’s blood lead levels began in June 2019 by Santé publique France Île-de-France, in collaboration with the Paris Poison Control and Toxicovigilance Center (CAPTV). Data from the “3 labos” database of Santé publique France and from the regional database of the National Surveillance System for Lead Levels in Children (SNSPE) of the CAPTV of Île-de-France were used to describe the screening activity and its results. The objectives of this report are to describe screening activity during the period from April 15 to December 31, 2019, the blood lead levels of screened children, the number of cases of childhood lead poisoning, and the identified sources of poisoning for children with lead poisoning. Childhood lead poisoning screening activity increased significantly in central Paris between June and October 2019. Thus, 1,222 children aged 0 to 17 were screened between April 15 and December 31, 2019, in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th arrondissements covered by the screening recommendations. The number of children tested for the first time was 50 times higher than the annual average recorded from 2015 to 2018 in these arrondissements by the SNSPE. Participation in screening among children aged 0 to 6 was 82% (n=38) among those residing on Île de la Cité and 34% (n=355) among those residing within the screening recommendation area. Among the 1,222 children screened around Notre-Dame, 13 (1.5%) had blood lead levels above 50 µg/L. The geometric mean blood lead levels were 13.3 µg/L (95% CI = [12.8; 13.8]) among children aged 0 to 6 years and 11.2 µg/L (95% CI = 10.6; 11.7) among children aged 7 to 17 years. The geometric mean of blood lead levels varied little between boroughs. The proportion of blood lead levels greater than or equal to 25 µg/L among children aged 0 to 6 years was highest in the 4th and 6th boroughs. The geometric mean of blood lead levels and the proportion of blood lead levels greater than or equal to 25 µg/L were not significantly different inside and outside the recommended screening perimeter. The exposure levels of children screened around Notre-Dame were similar to those estimated in the general population among children under 7 years of age in the Saturn-Inf study in 2009 and among children aged 6 to 10 years in the Esteban study in 2014–2016. Blood lead levels, however, were lower than those of children screened in Paris from 2015 to 2018. Environmental investigations conducted around the 13 cases of lead poisoning could not rule out exposure linked to the fire, but revealed, for all children, exposure to at least one source unrelated to the fire. The identified sources of lead are those typically found in older Parisian housing, with a high frequency of rolled lead sheeting on the balconies or terraces of residences (10 out of 13 cases). The various sources of lead exposure were detected in the home for 12 children, at school for 2 children, and on the streets for one child. These results suggest that the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was not associated, either temporally or spatially, with an increase in blood lead levels among children within the area of heavy lead dust fallout. The identification of 13 cases of lead poisoning, however, calls for increased efforts by healthcare professionals to screen for lead poisoning across all neighborhoods in Paris—beyond the areas typically affected by substandard housing—and to inform families and landlords in Paris about the risks associated with lead-based paint as well as methods for covering it to prevent further poisoning. Finally, the persistence of sources in older Parisian housing—whether dilapidated or not—and the known effects of low-dose lead exposure also underscore the need to continue efforts to reduce exposure.

Author(s): Etchevers Anne

Publishing year: 2021

Pages: 29 p.

Collection: Studies and Surveys

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