EVALUATING ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE ON CHILDREN - HOW CAN STABLE ISOTOPE TECHNIQUES CONTRIBUTE

The authors review the recent literature, including their own approach es, of stable isotope techniques applied to determining environmental effects on the health of children. The techniques involve the measurem ent of variations in natural isotope abundances of some elements with environmental significance, the use of enriched stable isotopes for in vivo and in situ tracer studies, in vitro isotope dilution techniques , and organ function tests using stable isotope-labelled compounds. Th ese techniques are non-invasive and can be expected to contribute new insights into the behavior of different pollutants and their effect on children's health. Some of the techniques have been used in clinical research and diagnosis but their adaptation for investigations of clin ically healthy children exposed to environmental pollution is desirabl e. Currently, as one of the specific aims of the Lepizig group of Huma n Exposure Research, the experience in biochemical and clinical isotop e applications is being adapted to the environmental challenges in the heavily polluted industrial regions of Saxony.