Abstract
To the Editor.— The recent discovery of unexpected increased lead absorption in children of female battery workers strikingly reflects the impact on clinical practice of the increased participation by women in the work force. This experience illustrates other epidemiologic principles that we believe need wider appreciation. We have detailed these points to pediatricians 1 and wish now to reiterate them for a more general medical audience. Report of a Case.— A 24-year-old woman had intermittent headache, dizziness, and amnesia. Results of neurological evaluation were normal, but anemia with basophilic stippling was found. Her work involved burning lead battery terminals, but the importance of this information was not appreciated until her 20-month-old son showed a high blood lead level on routine screening. Subsequently, increased lead absorption was disclosed in the woman, and chelation therapy produced clinical and biochemical improvement. Three of her children, and children in the families of five other
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