Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Public Health Reports logoLink to Public Health Reports
. 2005 Jul-Aug;120(4):448–454. doi: 10.1177/003335490512000412

Demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with blood lead levels among Mexican-American children and adolescents in the United States.

Leo S Moralez 1, Peter Gutierrez 1, Jose J Escarce 1
PMCID: PMC1497748  PMID: 16025725

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess demographic and socioeconomic differences in blood lead levels (BLLs) among Mexican-American children and adolescents in the United States. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994, for 3,325 Mexican-American youth aged 1 to 17 years. The main study outcome measures included a continuous measure (microg/dL) of BLL and two dichotomous measures of BLL (> or =5 microg/dL and > or =10 microg/dL). RESULTS: The mean BLL among Mexican-American children in the United States was 3.45 microg/dL (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.07, 3.87); 20% had BLL > or =5 microg/dL (95% CI 15%, 24%); and 4% had BLL > or =10 microg/dL (95% CI 2%, 6%). In multivariate analyses, gender, age, generational status, home language, family income, education of head of household, age of housing, and source of drinking water were statistically significant independent predictors (p<0.05) of having higher BLLs and of having BLL > or =5 microg/dL, whereas age, family income, housing age, and source of drinking water were significant predictors (p<0.05) of having BLL > or =10 microg/dL. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences in the risk of having elevated BLLs exist among Mexican-American youth. Those at greatest risk should be prioritized for lead screening and lead exposure abatement interventions.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (79.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Azcona-Cruz M. I., Rothenberg S. J., Schnaas L., Zamora-Muñoz J. S., Romero-Placeres M. Lead-glazed ceramic ware and blood lead levels of children in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Arch Environ Health. 2000 May-Jun;55(3):217–222. doi: 10.1080/00039890009603409. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bernard Susan M., McGeehin Michael A. Prevalence of blood lead levels >or= 5 micro g/dL among US children 1 to 5 years of age and socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with blood of lead levels 5 to 10 micro g/dL, Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994. Pediatrics. 2003 Dec;112(6 Pt 1):1308–1313. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.6.1308. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bernard Susan M. Should the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's childhood lead poisoning intervention level be lowered? Am J Public Health. 2003 Aug;93(8):1253–1260. doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.8.1253. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brick J. M., Kalton G. Handling missing data in survey research. Stat Methods Med Res. 1996 Sep;5(3):215–238. doi: 10.1177/096228029600500302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bryant S. D. Lead-contaminated drinking waters in the public schools of Philadelphia. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 2004;42(3):287–294. doi: 10.1081/clt-120037429. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dietrich K. N., Berger O. G., Succop P. A. Lead exposure and the motor developmental status of urban six-year-old children in the Cincinnati Prospective Study. Pediatrics. 1993 Feb;91(2):301–307. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Flores Julio, Albert Lilia A. Environmental lead in Mexico, 1990-2002. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2004;181:37–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Geltman P. L., Brown M. J., Cochran J. Lead poisoning among refugee children resettled in Massachusetts, 1995 to 1999. Pediatrics. 2001 Jul;108(1):158–162. doi: 10.1542/peds.108.1.158. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Meyer Pamela A., Pivetz Timothy, Dignam Timothy A., Homa David M., Schoonover Jaime, Brody Debra, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Surveillance for elevated blood lead levels among children--United States, 1997-2001. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2003 Sep 12;52(10):1–21. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pirkle J. L., Brody D. J., Gunter E. W., Kramer R. A., Paschal D. C., Flegal K. M., Matte T. D. The decline in blood lead levels in the United States. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) JAMA. 1994 Jul 27;272(4):284–291. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pirkle J. L., Kaufmann R. B., Brody D. J., Hickman T., Gunter E. W., Paschal D. C. Exposure of the U.S. population to lead, 1991-1994. Environ Health Perspect. 1998 Nov;106(11):745–750. doi: 10.1289/ehp.98106745. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rabito Felicia A., Shorter Charles, White LuAnn E. Lead levels among children who live in public housing. Epidemiology. 2003 May;14(3):263–268. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stiles K. M., Bellinger D. C. Neuropsychological correlates of low-level lead exposure in school-age children: a prospective study. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1993 Jan-Feb;15(1):27–35. doi: 10.1016/0892-0362(93)90042-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Walkowiak J., Altmann L., Krämer U., Sveinsson K., Turfeld M., Weishoff-Houben M., Winneke G. Cognitive and sensorimotor functions in 6-year-old children in relation to lead and mercury levels: adjustment for intelligence and contrast sensitivity in computerized testing. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1998 Sep-Oct;20(5):511–521. doi: 10.1016/s0892-0362(98)00010-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Public Health Reports are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES