Table 1. Blood lead levels (BLLs) in different age, gender, residence and districts among Chinese population in 2017/18.
| Sub group | <LOD* (%) |
Geometric mean
(95% CI), μg/L |
Median
(95% CI), μg/L |
P90
(95% CI), μg/L |
P95
(95% CI), μg/L |
P97.5
(95% CI), μg/L |
Participants with BLLs ≥35 μg/L, n (%), million† | Participants with BLLs ≥50 μg/L, n (%), million§ | Participants with BLLs ≥100 μg/L, n (%), million¶ |
| Abbreviation: LOD=limit of detection. * The LOD of blood lead was 0.035 μg/L; <LOD (%) was the proportion below LOD. † Participants with BLLs ≥35 μg/L, n (%) were calculated incorporating the sample weights. § Participants with BLLs ≥50 μg/L, n (%) were calculated incorporating the sample weights. ¶ Participants with BLLs ≥100 μg/L, n (%) were calculated incorporating the sample weights. | |||||||||
| Total | 0.27 | 20.66 (19.90–21.46) |
20.72 (20.03–21.42) |
42.82 (40.73–44.91) |
52.72 (50.03–55.41) |
65.80 (60.93–70.67) |
222.4 (16.7) | 79.9 (6.0) | 9.0 (0.7) |
| Age (years) | |||||||||
| 3–5 | 0.36 | 16.87 (16.06–17.72) |
17.01 (16.33–17.68) |
33.87 (31.87–35.87) |
41.67 (38.32–45.02) |
50.95 (44.86–57.03) |
11.8 (8.7) | 3.7 (2.7) | 0.7 (0.5) |
| 6–11 | 0.24 | 16.84 (16.12–17.59) |
17.01 (16.34–17.67) |
31.27 (29.49–33.04) |
38.65 (35.91–41.40) |
45.87 (42.46–49.29) |
11.6 (7.1) | 3.0 (1.8) | 0.1 (0.1) |
| 12–18 | 0.36 | 15.21 (14.53–15.93) |
15.27 (14.71–15.83) |
29.30 (27.18–31.42) |
37.66 (33.73–41.59) |
46.28 (38.59–53.97) |
9.7 (6.1) | 3.2 (2.0) | 0.6 (0.3) |
| 19–39 | 0.36 | 21.32 (20.33–22.36) |
21.65 (20.50–22.79) |
41.79 (39.12–44.45) |
51.15 (47.70–54.61) |
62.64 (55.65–69.63) |
47.9 (16.2) | 15.2 (5.2) | 1.2 (0.4) |
| 40–59 | 0.30 | 24.78 (23.70–25.91) |
25.02 (23.90–26.14) |
49.47 (47.09–51.85) |
58.68 (54.54–62.81) |
71.33 (64.98–77.68) |
84.6 (25.2) | 32.2 (9.6) | 3.3 (1.0) |
| 60–79 | 0.06 | 24.40 (23.32–25.52) |
23.70 (22.75–24.64) |
49.37 (45.49–53.26) |
63.92 (57.30–70.54) |
85.72 (78.31–93.14) |
56.8 (23.8) | 22.6 (9.5) | 3.1 (1.3) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Men | 0.24 | 24.41 (23.37–25.50) |
24.43 (23.39–25.48) |
47.34 (44.72–49.96) |
57.34 (53.26–61.41) |
71.38 (65.29–77.47) |
154.1 (23.3) | 54.5 (3.8) | 5.2 (0.8) |
| Women | 0.28 | 17.51 (16.86–18.18) |
17.39 (16.90–17.89) |
35.37 (33.31–37.44) |
45.54 (42.46–48.62) |
57.44 (52.24–62.64) |
68.3 (10.2) | 25.4 (8.2) | 3.8 (0.6) |
| Residence | |||||||||
| Urban | 0.26 | 20.50 (19.46–21.59) |
20.70 (19.83–21.57) |
42.61 (39.87–45.35) |
52.25 (48.98–55.52) |
63.10 (55.88–70.33) |
132.8 (16.5) | 46.6 (5.8) | 5.0 (0.6) |
| Rural | 0.29 | 20.92 (19.78–22.11) |
20.81 (19.60–22.02) |
43.09 (39.84–46.34) |
53.35 (48.27–58.42) |
67.48 (61.25–73.71) |
89.6 (17.1) | 33.3 (6.4) | 4.0 (0.8) |
| Districts | |||||||||
| North China | 0.28 | 19.34 (18.21–20.54) |
19.45 (18.28–20.62) |
38.57 (34.24–42.90) |
49.10 (42.41–55.80) |
55.93 (46.99–64.88) |
25.8 (13.5) | 8.3 (4.3) | 1.0 (0.5) |
| Northeast China | 0.11 | 19.39 (17.40–21.61) |
18.93 (16.70–21.16) |
44.14 (36.97–51.30) |
56.15 (47.37–64.94) |
72.30 (48.78–95.83) |
18.2 (16.4) | 7.3(7.1) | 0.7 (0.6) |
| East China | 0.18 | 19.39 (17.90–21.00) |
20.03 (18.94–21.12) |
38.11 (35.36–40.86) |
45.53 (42.22–48.84) |
54.52 (49.59–59.45) |
55.2 (13.4) | 13.8 (3.3) | 1.4 (0.4) |
| South-Central China | 0.09 | 22.22 (20.34–24.28) |
21.63 (19.36–23.89) |
46.97 (41.79–52.14) |
56.06 (48.65–63.47) |
67.70 (56.18–79.22) |
65.0 (20.2) | 26.3 (8.1) | 2.5 (0.8) |
| Southwest China | 0.66 | 23.95 (21.95–26.14) |
23.69 (21.91–25.48) |
51.88 (45.02–58.74) |
70.76 (62.21–79.32) |
89.66 (78.16–101.15) |
40.7 (24.6) | 18.8 (11.2) | 3.1 (1.8) |
| Northwest China | 0.36 | 20.36 (18.70–22.15) |
20.30 (18.85–21.75) |
38.13 (32.54–43.72) |
47.78 (36.45–59.11) |
60.89 (41.25–80.53) |
17.5 (13.9) | 5.4 (4.3) | 0.3 (0.3) |