Follow-up of Children Overexposed to Lead

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the nature and magnitude of the deleterious health effects of subclinical over-exposure to lead in children. The study stems from concerns about the impact on the health of children in city slums who ingest leaded paint without overt evidence of poisoning and the health implication of rising levels of lead in the environment from automotive emissions. The study sample was derived mainly from a registry of children on whom blood lead determinations had been made by the New York City Department of Health and was supplemented by siblings of the registry cases and children from a lead belt area who had extractions of deciduous teeth in dental clinics. Information was obtained through parental interview, medical records, and psychometric evaluation. The data show that deleterious health effects occur in children who were treated for severe lead poisoning and in children without diagnosed lead poisoning who had elevated blood leads (>0.06 mg-%). In the absence of diagnosed lead poisoning or elevated blood leads, excess lead exposure, measured in terms of high levels of lead in teeth, was not associated with deleterious health effects.

Applications of neurophysiological methods in occupational medicine. A review.

“…A discriminant function analysis proved tha t the CVSF of the ulnar nerve and the motor distal latency of the median nerve formed the best combination for separating the cases of lead poisoning from the controls. 7 8 activity have been found in young children with slightly elevated blood lead levels (40-60 pg/IOO ml) (2,13,47).…”

Experimental Lead Paint Poisoning in Nonhuman Primates II. Clinical Pathologie Findings and Behavioral Effects

“…Some workers have reported intellectual or behavioral abnormalities (21,27,33) or fine motor deficits (5,21,27,33) following subclinical lead poisoning. Negative results are also reported in some of these same areas (1,5,33). Mentally deficient or hyperactive children have evi dence of an excess lead body burden according to some studies (13,23), but not according to others (22).…”

Toxicological Properties of Lead

“…Children who have already experienced lead encephalopathy and are subsequently re-exposed to lead, will almost certainly develop permanent CNS damage (12). Recently, Albert et al (13) and Rummo (14) have reconfirmed the deterimental effects of severe lead poisoning on the subsequent behavior and intellectual functioning of children.…”

“…Benign and malignant kidney tumors were observed in rats fed lead acetate (3 mg/day for 2 months and 4 mg/day for 16 months); besides the kidney tumors, neoplasms of the testes, adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, and prostate were also observed (93). In male Sprague-Dawley rats on a diet containing 1% lead subacetate, two gliomas were observed besides 13 kidney tumors in 17 animals (94).…”