Lead concentrations in blood and scalp hair of 200 school boys, aged 6–8 years, were measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The mean blood-Pb concentration was 6·8 μg dl −1 and the mean hair-Pb concentration was 9·7 μg g −1 (dry weight). These values are well within the normal range for the respective tissues, indicating that the children studied are presently at relatively low risk from environmental lead pollution. A correlation analysis carried out on the data failed to show any statistically significant correlation ( r = 0·13, p < 0·05) between the blood-Pb and hair-Pb concentrations.