The new specialist department for environmental medicine at the Euskirchen health department has been fully equipped since October: “The search for personnel was not easy, because environmental doctors and toxicologists are few and far between,” reports the head of the department of health, Christian Ramola. The decision to establish the specialist department was already taken by the district council last year.
Only recently, the health department has evaluated repeated determinations of blood lead concentrations in children and their relatives from the lead pollution zone between Mechernich and Kall. The results are encouraging:
“Although the blood lead concentrations in almost all children are still above the current reference values, there is a happy trend of decreasing blood lead concentrations,” said district press spokesman Wolfgang Andres , summarizing the results of the investigations.
54 people from Mechernich and Kall in permanent care
Currently there are still 54 people in permanent care. “These are children and adolescents who experienced elevated blood lead levels in the 2021 study and their relatives,” says Ramolla. At that time, elevated lead levels were recorded in a total of 182 children and adolescents. “At the moment, further appointments for blood sampling are scheduled for the period January/February 2023”, adds Ramolla, possibly with individual consultations. The families have already been contacted.
“The goal is to check blood lead concentrations twice a year – in the winter and summer months – in order to be able to better assess the influencing factors,” says the head of the health department. A brochure on the subject is already available on the Internet.
The new specialist department wants to continue to address the lead issue in cooperation with kindergartens and schools. “It’s just as important as washing your hands and brushing your teeth,” says Ramolla. An hour of permanent consultation on the topic of lead pollution is also planned for citizens of the lead pollution zone.
Specialist office for environmental medicine in the district of Euskirchen
Four employees work in the specialist unit, which was set up in response to the results of the survey on blood lead levels of children and young people in the Mechernich and Kall area. “The topic of lead is currently in focus, but there are many other tasks in environmental and social medicine, especially with regard to climate change,” says Christian Ramolla, outlining the range of tasks of the specialist department.
Katja Ziemann, a toxicology graduate as a veterinarian, acts as coordinator. The team of the new ward also includes a doctor, who is training as an environmental doctor, and two social-health assistants. (Like this)
