scholarly journals Blood Lead Levels of Refugee Children in Rhode Island

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey Ginaitt

Lead and its harmful effects on children have been known for over one hundred years. Yet exposure continues to be a public health concern within the U.S., specifically in the urban areas (Lidsky & Schneider, 2003). Blood lead levels (BLL) were found to be elevated in 11.3% of recent refugees children within the U.S. (Hebbar, Vanderslice, Simon, & Vallejo, 2010). Currently, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately half a million children between the ages of one to five years have a blood lead level above 5μ/deciliter (CDC, 2017). Lead is neurotoxic and young children are at a particularly high risk of exposure. Many studies indicate that adverse outcomes in intellectual functioning and social-behavioral conduct. It is not clear if long-term effects develop at concentrations below 10 μg per deciliter (Canfield et al., 2003). Minimal research done to evaluate the implementation of the CDC guidelines on blood level screening of refugee children that are newly arrived into the U.S. (Raymond et al., 2012). This project analyzed the health records of refugee children who settled in Rhode Island and were receiving care in the refugee clinic within a large academic medical center. Records were reviewed for adherence to Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines regarding BLL in refugee children.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (13) ◽  
pp. 941-946
Author(s):  
Shuaib Ahmed M. A ◽  
Raghav Sharma ◽  
Shama Prakash K

BACKGROUND Hypertension is one of the most common diseases all over the world. Lead is a common environmental and industrial pollutant with no beneficial biological role. The contribution of environmental lead exposure to hypertension is an important public health concern. The objective of this study was to determine the blood lead levels in hypertensive patients and to investigate the correlation between blood lead (B-Pb) levels and the values of blood pressure in hypertensive patients. METHODS This is a hospital based analytical cross-sectional study conducted over a period of one and half years. Subjects included 50 newly detected hypertensive and 50 healthy subjects recruited who were both age and sex matched. Mean of age, blood lead levels, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with standard deviation were assessed. Linear regression was used to estimate the predicted systolic blood pressure (BP) and diastolic BP with lead levels. Pearson correlation was used to estimate the correlation between blood lead and blood pressure levels. RESULTS In this study, 52 % of cases and controls were in the age group of 41 - 60 years. 22 % of the subjects were more than 61 years of age. 45 % of the total subjects were females and 55 % were males. 46 % of the controls and 44 % of the cases were females. Comparison of the serum lead levels (mcg / dl) between cases and controls showed that serum lead levels (mcg / dl) were higher in Cases group with a t-value of -7.38 and was statistically significant with a P-value of < 0.001. Comparison of the serum lead levels (mcg / dl) between the males and females showed that serum lead levels (mcg / dl) were higher in female group with a t-value of - 0.151 and was statistically non-significant with a P-value of 0.881. This study showed that there is an increase in blood lead levels in hypertensive patients compared to the control group. Stage 2 hypertension has higher serum lead level value of 21.228 compared to stage 1. Serum lead levels were higher in females compared to males. CONCLUSIONS Our study indicated that blood lead level is significantly and positively correlated to blood pressure among newly detected hypertensive patients. Increase in blood lead levels causes increase in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. KEY WORDS Hypertension, Lead, Systolic Blood Pressure, Diastolic Blood Pressure


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e37410716616
Author(s):  
Kethilyn Cristhini de Oliveira Mota ◽  
Vitória Carolina Marques Pedroso ◽  
Gustavo Henrique Oliveira Rocha ◽  
Denise Grotto ◽  
Éric Diego Barioni ◽  
...  

Objective: exposure of children to lead still poses a major health concern for public health agencies worldwide. This work aims to describe which are the symptoms most frequently associated with lead exposure in children, providing further basis to both researchers and policy makers to better guide future efforts aimed at addressing such issue. Methods: a systematized review of articles on the present topic published between June 2005 and February 2021 was carried out. Results: data described in the reviewed articles show a clear relationship between blood lead levels and hematopoietic and cognitive effects in children exposed to either low or high levels of lead. Concerning effects can be identified at blood lead levels above 4µg/dL, and the highest blood lead level reported was of 88.39 µg/dL. Conclusions: lead poisoning of children continues to be a serious public health issue worldwide, especially for those in South America, and health agencies and policy makers alike would benefit from more studies describing areas where lead exposure is high as well as describing how children have been responding to such exposure in the past years in order to better combat this issue.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Fung Tsoi ◽  
Chris Wai Hang Lo ◽  
Tommy Tsang Cheung ◽  
Bernard Man Yung Cheung

AbstractLead is a heavy metal without a biological role. High level of lead exposure is known to be associated with hypertension, but the risk at low levels of exposure is uncertain. In this study, data from US NHANES 1999–2016 were analyzed. Adults with blood lead and blood pressure measurements, or self-reported hypertension diagnosis, were included. If not already diagnosed, hypertension was defined according to the AHA/ACC 2017 hypertension guideline. Results were analyzed using R statistics version 3.5.1 with sample weight adjustment. Logistic regression was used to study the association between blood lead level and hypertension. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated. Altogether, 39,477 participants were included. Every doubling in blood lead level was associated with hypertension (OR [95%CI] 1.45 [1.40–1.50]), which remained significant after adjusting for demographics. Using quartile 1 as reference, higher blood lead levels were associated with increased adjusted odds of hypertension (Quartile 4 vs. Quartile 1: 1.22 [1.09–1.36]; Quartile 3 vs. Quartile 1: 1.15 [1.04–1.28]; Quartile 2 vs. Quartile 1: 1.14 [1.05–1.25]). In conclusion, blood lead level is associated with hypertension in the general population with blood lead levels below 5 µg/dL. Our findings suggest that reducing present levels of environmental lead exposure may bring cardiovascular benefits by reducing blood pressure.


1983 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.C. Elwood ◽  
K.M. Phillips ◽  
N. Lowe ◽  
J.K. Phillips ◽  
C. Toothill

1 The effect on the blood lead levels of residents in an area in which a soft plumbo-solvent water was hardened is examined. 2 Water lead levels fell after hardening was introduced whereas there was a small rise in water lead levels in a control area monitored over the same time. 3 The blood lead levels of residents fell after hardening and the fall was slightly greater than would have been predicted on the basis of the change in water lead levels. This suggests that lead is less well absorbed from hard water than from soft water. 4 Following hardening there was a significant fall in mean blood lead level of subjects living in houses which had initially had negligible amounts of lead in the water. This suggests that hard water may interfere with the absorption of lead from sources other than water.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-377
Author(s):  
James R. Campbell ◽  
Stanley J. Schaffer ◽  
Peter G. Szilagyi ◽  
Karen G. O'Connor ◽  
Peter Briss ◽  
...  

Objectives. In 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decreased the blood lead level of concern to 10 µg/dL (0.48 µmol/L) and recommended universal screening. Because these guidelines continue to provoke controversy, we conducted a study to:1) estimate the proportion of pediatricians who are members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) who report screening for elevated blood lead levels; 2) describe their clinical practices regarding screening for elevated blood lead levels; 3) compare attitudes of universal screeners, selective screeners, and nonscreeners; and 4) identify characteristics of pediatricians who universally screen. Design. Confidential, cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative random sample of 1610 pediatricians conducted through the AAP Periodic Survey. Subjects. The study included 1035 responders (64% response rate). Analysis was limited to the 734 pediatricians who provide well-child care (ie, primary-care pediatricians). Results. Fifty-three percent of pediatricians reported screening all their patients aged 9 to 36 months, 39% reported screening some, and 8% reported screening none. Among those who screen, 96% use a blood lead assay. The primary risk factors for which selective screeners screen are: history of pica (94%); living in an older home with recent renovations (92%); living in an older home with peeling paint (93%); and having a sibling who had an elevated blood lead level (88%). Among primary-care pediatricians, 73% agree that blood lead levels ≥10 µg/dL should be considered elevated, and 16% disagree. However, 89% of primary-care pediatricians believe that epidemiologic studies should be performed to determine which communities have high proportions of children with elevated blood lead levels, and 34% of primary-care pediatricians believe that the costs of screening exceed the benefits. Conclusions. Three years after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines for the management of elevated blood lead levels, a slight majority of primary-care pediatricians in the United States who are members of the AAP report that they universally screen their appropriately aged patients, while most of the remaining pediatricians report screening high-risk patients. Many pediatricians may want additional guidance about circumstances under which selective screening should be considered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Laporte ◽  
H Barberin de Barberini ◽  
E Jouve ◽  
K Hadji ◽  
S Gentile

Abstract Background Removing lead sources is the main measure against child lead poisoning. Medical treatment is ineffective for most mild cases and particularly against long-term complications in neurological development. However, the effectiveness of interventions to eliminate sources of lead exposure has not been fully established, mainly because of the diversity of situations. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of several interventions (housing counselling, rehabilitation and relocation) on blood lead levels in two situations (stable unhealthy housing with old flaked lead paints, slums with family recycling practices by incineration). Methodology A historical cohort of lead poisoning in children has been established in Marseille, France. Medical follow-up followed national guidelines. Environmental interventions followed legal procedures, where available. In slums, counselling was adapted to the exposure. A generalized mixed model was developed to study the kinetics of blood lead levels after the interventions. Results 151 children were included; age = 5.4 (SD = 7.8) years; 85 (56%) lived in stable unhealthy housing, others lived in slums. Medical follow-up included 492 blood lead levels. For children living in stable unhealthy housing, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with every intervention: housing counselling, rehabilitation and relocation (respectively p &lt; 0.005; p &lt; 0.05 and p &lt; 0.005). For children living in slums, blood lead level decrease was only associated with relocation in a stable housing (p &lt; 0.005). Conclusions Several interventions are effective to decrease blood lead levels in unhealthy housing. In slums, access to a stable housing first is a prerequisite for any intervention against child lead poisoning, even when related to family practices. Key messages In stable unhealthy housing, several interventions against lead exposure can be effective to raise a strategy. But, environmental health and access to housing first needs to be addressed for their implementation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 096032712097545
Author(s):  
Monica Shirley Mani ◽  
Amitha Puranik ◽  
Shama Prasada Kabekkodu ◽  
Manjunath B Joshi ◽  
Herman Sunil Dsouza

Lead is a ubiquitous heavy metal toxin of significant public health concern. Every individual varies in their response to lead’s toxic effects due to underlying genetic variations in lead metabolizing enzymes or proteins distributed in the population. Earlier studies, including our lab, have attributed the influence of ALAD (δ-Aminolevulinate dehydratase) polymorphism on blood lead retention and ALAD activity. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of VDR (Vitamin D receptor) and HFE (Hemochromatosis) polymorphisms in modulating blood lead levels (BLLs) of occupationally exposed workers. 164 lead-exposed subjects involved in lead alloy manufacturing and battery breaking and recycling processes and 160 unexposed controls with BLLs below 10 µg/dL recruited in the study. Blood lead levels, along with a battery of biochemical assays and genotyping, were performed. Regression analysis revealed a negative influence of BLLs on ALAD activity ( p < 0.0001) and a positive influence on smokeless tobacco use ( p < 0.001) in lead-exposed subjects. A predicted haplotype of the three VDR polymorphisms computed from genotyping data revealed that T-A-A haplotype increased the BLLs by 0.93 units ( p ≤ 0.05) and C-C-A haplotype decreased the BLLs by 7.25 units ( p ≤ 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the wild-type CC genotype of HFE H63D presented a higher median BLL, indicating that variant C allele may have a role in increasing the concentration of lead. Hence, the polymorphism of genes associated with lead metabolism might aid in predicting genetic predisposition to lead and its associated effects.


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