Relationships Among Lead Levels in Blood, Dust, and Soil

Abstract

The relationships among lead levels in environmental and body burden media have been examined in a number of field and laboratory studies. Significant and permanent detrimental health effects have been shown to result from elevated blood lead levels in children. Ten micrograms of lead per 100 ml of blood is the new, lower level of concern adopted for lead poisoning, by both the Centers for Disease Control and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The reanalysis of the individual field study datasets emphasized an investigation of the relationships among blood, dust, and soil lead levels. The reanalysis sought to, directly and simply, address the association between dust, soil, and blood lead levels. The reanalysis examined the simultaneous impact of dust lead, soil lead, and air lead levels on blood lead levels, using a nonlinear regression model such as the employed in our reanalysis.