Table 3.

Exposure of women to different sources of lead. A composite scoring system was used to compute residential exposure to lead in each type of dwelling (current, childhood and other) occupied = # of years occupying dwelling × [((location (small town 1, suburb 2, inner city 3) + water source (hard 2, soft1))/5) × (water filtration at tap (yes 0, no 1)) × (main water treatment (yes 0, no 1)) × (plumbing type (lead 3, lead soldering 2, non-lead 1)/3) × (water consumed (tap 1, bottled or treated 0)) + interior lead-based paint (yes 1, no 0) + exterior lead-based paint (yes 1, no 0)]. The maximum exposure index was 3 (exposure to lead in water, in indoor and outdoor lead-based paint) multiplied by number of years occupied in the dwelling. Occupational exposure to lead was based on self-report of whether or not they were in an occupation that exposed them to lead (yes 1, no 0) × number of years in that occupation. Total activity lead exposure was based on the sum of whether (1) or not (0) they participated in each of 13 activities including: home renovations; interior decorating; jewelry or badge making; SCUBA diving; fishing; electronics fabrication; metalwork; car maintenance; hunting/shooting/ammunition handling; cosmetics used from Middle East, Southeast Asia, India, the Dominican Republic or Mexico; use of leaded crystal ware; gardening; and use of a soldering iron or gun.

Exposure methods	N	Mean	SD	Median	Q1	Q3	Max
Current Res.Pb Exp.	38	8.39	20.36	4.00	0.00	6.20	104.00
Childhood Res.Pb Exp.	37	35.19	22.12	37.33	19.60	51.20	89.60
Other Res.Pb Exp.	38	7.23	18.97	1.60	0.00	2.93	84.00
Occupational Pb Exp.	38	0.92	4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	20.00
Total activities Pb Exp.	38	0.21	0.41	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.00