Living in a sea of lead — changes in blood- and hand-lead of infants living near a smelter

Abstract

Thirteen infants born into the lead contaminated environment of Port Pirie, South Australia, were followed approximately monthly from birth until they were about 36 months. Blood-lead levels of infants at birth were similar to their mothers but fell rapidly during the first 35 days of life. Thereafter, infants born with blood-lead levels at about 2-4 mg/dl began a slow linear increase until 14-18 months where a plateau occurred of 10.8-17.2 mg/dl. The bloodlead levels were well correlated with hand-lead loadings of infant (r 2 ¼ 0.72, Po0.01, log transformed data) and mother (r 2 ¼ 0.62, Po0.01, log transformed data) unless the birth lead level was exceptionally high. The principle factor determining exposure was thee impact of smelter emissions on the house. Blood-lead increase was caused by the relatively more rapid increase in dose of lead compared with the increasing body mass, which was related directly to the maturation of motor development. Hand-lead of mothers were closely related to both infants' blood-and hand-lead levels until the point of blood-lead plateau then substantially fell as infants began to walk unaided. The estimated slope factor using the ICRP model was 0.75-0.94 mg/dl per mg/ day with a maximum daily dose of 3-5 mg/kg/day, assuming 45% absorption. Ingestion appears to be the most likely route for at least 95% of the dose.

Blood lead levels in the adult Victorian population: results from the Victorian Health Monitor

“…The study did not, however, measure BLLs in children or pregnant women. Despite several studies investigating BLLs in children in at-risk areas, [17][18][19][20] and a large Australian study of children in 1995, 16 current BLLs for children at the population level remain unknown. This is of particular concern given the evidence suggesting chronic exposure to low levels of lead can affect neurological development and cognitive function in children.…”

“…15 The main focus of studies of BLLs in Australia has been on young children and, with the exception of one Australia-wide study in 1996, 16 they tend to be focused on children at high risk of lead exposure, especially those living in and around industrial and mining areas. 17,18 Studies of BLLs in Australian adults are limited in number and those that exist also tend to be focused on BLLs in at-risk groups. 19,20 Although they yield important information about lead exposure, the prevalence of elevated BLLs from studies of at-risk children and adults are not representative of the wider population.…”

Arsenic distribution and bioaccessibility across particle fractions in historically contaminated soils

“…Contaminant exposure through the ingestion or inhalation (particle matter \10 lm) of indoor dust are important exposure pathways for children as their behavioural patterns expose them to greater rates of soil ingestion and elevated inhalation of contaminated soil and dust (Mukerjee 1998;Belluck et al 2003). Indoor dust generally consists of particles\50 lm in diameter (Edwards et al 1998) and several Pb studies have identified exposure of Pb-contaminated household dust as a major exposure pathway for children less than 3 years of age (Hunt et al 1993;Simon et al 2007). Children's exposure may therefore be considerably greater if the As concentration in the smaller particle fractions is higher than that in the 250-lm soil particle fraction.…”

Skin Lead Contamination of Family Members of Boat-caulkers in Southern Thailand

“…Hand lead loading and blood lead levels were obtained from 10 infants aged 2 months born into the lead contaminated environment of Porte Pirie, South Australia. The blood lead levels of infants were well correlated with hand lead loadings (r 2 =0.72; p<0.01) 29) . A re-analysis of 11 studies using structural equation modeling to compare lead exposure pathways, reported that interior dust lead and hand-wipe lead were the most important predictors of blood lead in children aged less than three years 26) .…”

“…Furthermore, a close relationship between household dust lead and children's blood lead content had been reported in many studies 20,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] . Although our study did not measure blood lead levels, other studies in children and in adults have provided evidence that hand lead loadings are correlated with blood lead levels 29,30) . Hand lead loading and blood lead levels were obtained from 10 infants aged 2 months born into the lead contaminated environment of Porte Pirie, South Australia.…”