Table 3. Distribution (percentiles and mean) of blood lead (μg/dL) according to the sociodemographic characteristics of children and the season of sampling.
|
Percentiles of BLL |
GM (95% CI) | % of BLLs (≥1.78 μg/dL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | 50th | 75th | 90th | |||
| Age (Month) | ||||||
| 12–23 | 0.75 | 1.27 | 1.76 | 2.69 | 1.32 (1.14, 1.53) | 20.0 |
| 24–35 | 0.68 | 1.40 | 1.91 | 3.11 | 1.41 (1.24, 1.60) | 33.3 |
| 36–71 | 0.80 | 1.31 | 1.72 | 2.49 | 1.34 (1.24, 1.44) | 21.6 |
| All | 0.77 | 1.31 | 1.78 | 2.69 | 1.35 (1.27, 1.43) | 25.0 |
| Visible minoritya | ||||||
| No | 0.73 | 1.26 | 1.68 | 2.28 | 1.27 (1.18, 1.37) | 21.3 |
| Yes | 0.81 | 1.37 | 1.91 | 3.32 | 1.53* (1.38, 1.69) | 29.3 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Girl | 0.77 | 1.33 | 1.80 | 2.90 | 1.39 (1.28, 1.51) | 25.5 |
| Boy | 0.73 | 1.26 | 1.74 | 2.49 | 1.31 (1.20, 1.42) | 22.2 |
| Parents' highest education level | ||||||
| University | 0.77 | 1.26 | 1.68 | 2.49 | 1.30 (1.21, 1.39) | 20.8 |
| Other | 0.81 | 1.41 | 2.07 | 3.11 | 1.52** (1.36, 1.70) | 32.5** |
| Sampling seasonb | ||||||
| Fall | 0.85 | 1.43 | 2.01 | 3.11 | 1.50** (1.36, 1.66) | 31.2* |
| Winter | 0.73 | 1.20 | 1.60 | 2.28 | 1.27 (1.18, 1.37) | 19.8 |
Abbreviations: BLLs, blood lead levels; CI, confidence interval; GM, geometric mean.
a
Visible minorities as defined by Statistics Canada: African, Asian, Arab, Latin-American or Caribbean descent.
b
Fall season was set from September 10 to December 15, and Winter was set from December 16 to March 27. *P<0.005. **P<0.05.