scholarly journals Proximity of residence to an old mineral storage site in Chile and blood lead levels in children

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Loreto Lisboa ◽  
José Klarián ◽  
Rosario Toro Campos ◽  
Verónica Iglesias

Evidence suggests that an old mineral storage site removed in 1998 due to high lead content, remains as a source of exposure in the city of Antofagasta, Chile. The aim was to determine the association between blood lead levels in children and the residential proximity to the old mineral storage site. A cross sectional study was conducted with 185 children aged 7 to 16 years. The outcome variable was blood lead levels measured in 2005. The exposure variable was the distance between the current residence and the old mineral storage site. The distance was measured in meters by Geographic Information System (GIS). The median blood lead level in 2005 was 3.3μg/dL (interquartile range ‒ IQR: 2.0-4.3). A significant inverse association was found between the residential distance to the old mineral storage site and the blood lead levels in children, after adjusting by confounders (β: -0.04; 95%CI: -0.09; -0.01). This result suggests that the old mineral storage site continues to be a source of lead exposure for the children living nearby.

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Mahmoud Shawky ◽  
Reeham Abdel Aziz Abdel Hamid ◽  
Lina Essam Khedr

Abstract Background Pruritus is a common and often distressing symptom in patients with chronic kidney disease. Though the pathogenesis of uremic pruritus remains poorly understood, systemic inflammation has presented itself as one of the possible explanations. High blood lead levels (BLLs) have been noted to be associated with inflammation and poor nutritional status in hemodialysis patients. Our aim is to study the relation between blood lead levels and uremic pruritus. This is a cross-sectional study that enrolled 50 patients; all were on regular hemodialysis 3 times per week for at least 6 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups, group 1 (n =10) with no pruritus and group 2 (n=40) with varying degrees of pruritus. Group 2 was further divided according to intensity of pruritus by visual analog score (VAS) into mild (n=10), moderate (n=20), and severe pruritus (n=10). Results There was a significant difference in serum lead levels and ferritin levels between groups 1 and 2 (p value < 0.01 and < 0.05, respectively). There was a statistically significant difference in serum lead levels in the groups with varying intensity of pruritus, having higher serum lead levels in patients who exhibited severe pruritus (p value < 0.005) Moreover, a statistically significant relation between elevated blood lead levels and the duration of dialysis was observed in this study. Conclusion Uremic pruritus is a multi-factorial phenomenon, and our study showed that blood lead levels in hemodialysis patients might be associated with increased intensity of pruritus.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary N. Haan ◽  
Marianne Gerson ◽  
B. Anne Zishka

Objectives. To estimate the prevalence of elevated blood lead levels in children receiving well-care checkups; and to evaluate the effectiveness of certain key risk factors in detecting children at higher risk for elevated blood lead levels. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Two facilities of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program (KPMCP) health maintenance organization (HMO), northern California region. Patients. Six hundred thirty-six children, aged 12 to 60 months, who were seen at four KPMCP facilities in two subregions for a well-care checkup from September 1991 through August 1992. Interventions. Blood samples were collected from each child and analyzed for lead content. Participating parents completed a questionnaire that included questions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the child's and the parents' lead exposure via home, workplace, and hobbies. Results. Ninety-six percent of the children had blood lead levels under 10 µ/dL. Blood lead levels declined with increasing age and were higher for black children compared with whites. Age of residential housing, mother's education, and residence in an old house with peeling paint had low sensitivity and positive predictive value for identifying children with blood lead levels over 10 µ/dL. Conclusion. Universal routine screening for elevated blood lead levels in children in an employed, HMO-insured population is not warranted on grounds of prevalence. Responses to CDC questions do not effectively identify high-risk children in this population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 105288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Ming Li ◽  
Zhen-Yan Gao ◽  
Chen-Yin Dong ◽  
Mei-Qin Wu ◽  
Jin Yan ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 215 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Bas ◽  
Octavio P. Luzardo ◽  
Luis Peña-Quintana ◽  
Juan E. González ◽  
Juan A. Peña ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 972
Author(s):  
Kanimozhi Sadasivam ◽  
Balaji Chinnasami ◽  
Apurva Hariharan ◽  
Balaji Ramraj ◽  
Rahul Saravanan ◽  
...  

Background: Lead toxicity in children is a serious problem affecting their neurodevelopment. Although CDC mandates screening for lead toxicity regularly in children, India doesn’t have any lead related public health program in place. In resource limited India a prescreening lead risk assessment questionnaire will be more economical than universal screening for blood lead levels (BLL). Authors aim to evaluate the accuracy of a validated modified CDC lead risk assessment questionnaire in predicting elevated BLL.Methods: Authors conducted an explorative cross-sectional study from July to August 2017 in 340 children aged 6 months to 6 years. A standardized self-administered questionnaire modified from CDC lead risk assessment questionnaire was administered in the children. Also, BLL were measured in all study subjects using lead care II analyser. Data from questionnaire were compared with BLL to test the accuracy of questionnaire.Results: Blood lead levels was high (>5ug/dl) in 57.9% of study subjects especially in children between 24-35 months. Employment in battery manufacturing companies (P=0.0001), usage of cosmetics (P=0.019), parental smoking history (P=0.001), involvement in painting, arts (P=0.0001) and malnourished children (P=0.018) were the risk factors associated with undesirable BLL. The modified questionnaire had a sensitivity of 87.9% and specificity of 66.7% for detecting elevated BLL.Conclusions: The modified CDC lead risk assessment questionnaire is a sensitive tool in identifying high risk cases of lead toxicity in children.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bellinger ◽  
Alan Leviton ◽  
Jone Sloman ◽  
Michael Rabinowitz ◽  
Herbert L. Needleman ◽  
...  

In a cohort of 170 middle and upper-middle class children participating in a prospective study of child development and low-level lead exposure, higher blood lead levels at age 24 months were associated with lower scores at age 57 months on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. The mean blood lead level at age 24 months was 6.8 µg/dL (SD = 6.3; 75th, 90th, and 99th percentiles: 8.8, 13.7, 23.6, respectively) and for all but 1 child was less than 25 µg/dL, the current definition of an "elevated" level. After adjustment for confounding, scores on the General Cognitive Index decreased approximately 3 points (SE = 1.4) for each natural log unit increase in 24-month blood lead level. The inverse association between lead level and performance was especially prominent for visual-spatial and visual-motor integration skills. Higher prenatal exposures were not associated with lower scores at 57 months except in the subgroup of children with "high" concurrent blood lead levels (ie, ≥10 µg/dL). The concentration of lead in the dentine of shed deciduous teeth was not significantly associated with children's performance after adjustment for confounding.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Daniell ◽  
Lo Van Tung ◽  
Ryan M. Wallace ◽  
Deborah J. Havens ◽  
Catherine J. Karr ◽  
...  

Background. Battery recycling facilities in developing countries can cause community lead exposure.Objective. To evaluate child lead exposure in a Vietnam battery recycling craft village after efforts to shift home-based recycling outside the village.Methods. This cross-sectional study evaluated 109 children in Dong Mai village, using blood lead level (BLL) measurement, parent interview, and household observation. Blood samples were analyzed with a LeadCare II field instrument; highest BLLs (≥45 μg/dL) were retested by laboratory analysis. Surface and soil lead were measured at 11 households and a school with X-ray fluorescence analyzer.Results. All children had high BLLs; 28% had BLL ≥45 μg/dL. Younger age, family recycling, and outside brick surfaces were associated with higher BLL. Surface and soil lead levels were high at all tested homes, even with no recycling history. Laboratory BLLs were lower than LeadCare BLLs, in 24 retested children.Discussion. In spite of improvements, lead exposure was still substantial and probably associated with continued home-based recycling, legacy contamination, and workplace take-home exposure pathways. There is a need for effective strategies to manage lead exposure from battery recycling in craft villages. These reported BLL values should be interpreted cautiously, although the observed field-laboratory discordance may reflect bias in laboratory results.


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