Skip to main content
PMC home page
Environmental Health Perspectives logoLink to Environmental Health Perspectives
. 1998 Feb;106(2):79–83. doi: 10.1289/ehp.9810679

Effect of interventions on children's blood lead levels.

S R Hilts 1, S E Bock 1, T L Oke 1, C L Yates 1, R A Copes 1
PMCID: PMC1533008  PMID: 9435149

Abstract

Trail, Canada, has been the site of an active lead/zinc smelter for nearly a century. Since 1991, the Trail Community Lead Task Force has carried out blood lead screening, case management, education programs targeted at early childhood groups and the general community, community dust abatement, exposure pathways studies, and remedial trials. From 1989 through 1996, average blood lead levels of children tested for the first time declined at an average rate of 0.6 microg/dl/year, while blood lead levels in Canadian children not living near point sources appeared to be leveling off following the phase-out of leaded gasoline. Since there was no concurrent improvement in local environmental conditions during this time, it is possible that the continuing decline in Trail blood lead levels has been at least partly due to community-wide intervention programs. One year follow-up of children whose families received in-home educational visits, as well as assistance with home-based dust control measures, found that these specific interventions produced average blood lead changes of +0.5- -4.0 microg/dl, with statistically significant declines in 3 years out of 5. Education and dust control, particularly actions targeted toward higher risk children, appear to have served as effective and appropriate interim remedial measures while major source control measures have been implemented at the smelter site.

Full text

PDF
81

Images in this article

80Figure 1
on p.80
81Figure 2
on p.81

Selected References

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

  1. Annest J. L., Pirkle J. L., Makuc D., Neese J. W., Bayse D. D., Kovar M. G. Chronological trend in blood lead levels between 1976 and 1980. N Engl J Med. 1983 Jun 9;308(23):1373–1377. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198306093082301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Charney E., Kessler B., Farfel M., Jackson D. Childhood lead poisoning. A controlled trial of the effect of dust-control measures on blood lead levels. N Engl J Med. 1983 Nov 3;309(18):1089–1093. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198311033091804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hertzman C., Ward H., Ames N., Kelly S., Yates C. Childhood lead exposure in Trail revisited. Can J Public Health. 1991 Nov-Dec;82(6):385–391. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hilts S. R., Hertzman C., Marion S. A. A controlled trial of the effect of HEPA vacuuming on childhood lead exposure. Can J Public Health. 1995 Sep-Oct;86(5):345–350. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Jacobson B. E., Lockitch G., Quigley G. Improved sample preparation for accurate determination of low concentrations of lead in whole blood by graphite furnace analysis. Clin Chem. 1991 Apr;37(4):515–519. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kimbrough R. D., LeVois M., Webb D. R. Management of children with slightly elevated blood lead levels. Pediatrics. 1994 Feb;93(2):188–191. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Langlois P., Smith L., Fleming S., Gould R., Goel V., Gibson B. Blood lead levels in Toronto children and abatement of lead-contaminated soil and house dust. Arch Environ Health. 1996 Jan-Feb;51(1):59–67. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1996.9935995. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Needleman H. L., Gatsonis C. A. Low-level lead exposure and the IQ of children. A meta-analysis of modern studies. JAMA. 1990 Feb 2;263(5):673–678. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. 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]
  10. Pocock S. J., Smith M., Baghurst P. Environmental lead and children's intelligence: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence. BMJ. 1994 Nov 5;309(6963):1189–1197. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6963.1189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Schmitt N., Philion J. J., Larsen A. A., Harnadek M., Lynch A. J. Surface soil as a potential source of lead exposure for young children. Can Med Assoc J. 1979 Dec 8;121(11):1474–1478. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Schütz A., Attewell R., Skerfving S. Decreasing blood lead in Swedish children, 1978-1988. Arch Environ Health. 1989 Nov-Dec;44(6):391–394. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1989.9935913. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Strömberg U., Schütz A., Skerfving S. Substantial decrease of blood lead in Swedish children, 1978-94, associated with petrol lead. Occup Environ Med. 1995 Nov;52(11):764–769. doi: 10.1136/oem.52.11.764. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Environmental Health Perspectives are provided here courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RESOURCES