Blood lead concentrations in sub‐Saharan African children below 6 years: systematic review

Abstract

Abstractobjective To assess the geometric mean of blood lead levels in children aged below 6 years living in sub-Saharan Africa.methods Search strategies were developed in MEDLINE, Web of Science and Google scholar system, supplemented by screening of references from included papers and review articles. Studies including children younger than 6 years residing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were eligible. The studies were assessed for quality of methods for blood collection, for participants' recruitment and for quality control for lead analyses. Data were extracted and synthetised by estimating the mean weighted by sample size.results A total of 11 148 published papers were identified with only 16 studies conducted in SSA.Only nine of them were relevant of inclusion criteria. The weighted mean of blood lead levels was 13.1 lg/dl. Five of included studies were classified as being less likely to present selection bias, having performed venipuncture and adequate quality control for lead analyses. The weighted mean from analyses involving only these studies was 16.2 lg/dl. Six of the included studies reported the prevalence of blood lead levels ≥10 lg/dl; levels ranged from 7.0% to 70.9%. Only one study reported the prevalence of blood lead levels ≥5 lg/dl (50%).conclusions The geometric mean of blood lead levels in sub-Saharan African children is still elevated relative to the US children. The new standard from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (5 lg/dl) implies that important efforts should be directed towards the initiation (or reinforcement) of prevention programmes and thorough research studies in sub-Saharan Africa.keywords blood lead levels, children, sub-Saharan Africa

Towards bio monitoring of toxic (lead) and essential elements in whole blood from 1- to72-month old children: a cross-sectional study

“…The data of this study show that the levels of Pb in different age groups was unstable .Based on the U.S. centers for disease control criteria for Pb poisoning 19 . The mean blood Pb level in children was lower than the values reported in Shandong in 2012 20 and in sub-Saharan African 21 . Nanjing is now a low epidemic risk area.…”

Higher Blood Lead Levels among Childbearing Women in Nearby Addis Ababa-Adama Highway, Ethiopia

“…Even though measures taken to reduce exposures of lead have resulted in a significant decrease in community blood lead level in the United States and other industrialized countries [19], the reduction of lead was unlikely in emerging countries including Ethiopia [20]. Note also that the mean blood lead level of comparative group (8.47 ± 3.01 g/dL) in this study was also higher compared to recent recommended exposure of blood lead level on literature 2 g/dL [21] for successful prevention of risks related to lead exposure and concentration advised for pregnant women to avoid occupational or vocational lead exposure that would result in blood lead concentrations as >5 g/dL [22,23]. The reason why the blood lead level of the comparative group was higher might be due to the custom that wives help their husbands in their farms even though they are considered as housewives.…”

Immobilization of cadmium and lead by Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 mitigates apical-to-basolateral heavy metal translocation in a Caco-2 model of the intestinal epithelium

“…Blood lead levels in Africa have been reported between 0.05 -0.45 ppm, depending on occupational exposure. [16][17][18] Beyond the widely known exposure risks of Cd through recreational tobacco use, non-smokers can be exposed to Cd through contaminated foods 19 and proximity to industrial facilities. Blood cadmium levels have been reported from 0.02 -0.11 ppm in Africa.…”