Article
Lead levels in domestic water supplies and neural tube defects in
Glasgow
J E Macdonella, H Campbellb, D H Stonec
a Paediatric
Specialist Registrar, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Community Child
Health, 10 Chalmer's Crescent, Edinburgh EH9 1TS, UK, b Senior Lecturer, Public Health
Sciences, The Universtiy of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place,
Edinburgh EH9 9AG, UK, c Director,
Paediatric Epidemiology and Community Health (PEACH) Unit, Royal
Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow G3 8SJ, UK
Correspondence to: Dr Macdonell
Accepted 14 September 1999
OBJECTIVE
To study the
association between "pregnancy" prevalence (affected births and
terminations) of neural tube defects in postcode districts of Glasgow
and lead concentrations in domestic water.
SETTINGPostcode
districts of Glasgow supplied by water from the Loch Katrine reservoir.
DESIGNAn ecological
study. Lead concentrations from 1911 randomly selected domestic water
samples were obtained from the Glasgow 93 lead study. Neural tube
defects (affected births and terminations) were identified from the
Glasgow register of congenital anomalies for the period 1983-95 for
each postcode district in the study population. Correlations were
sought between lead concentrations and pregnancy prevalence of neural
tube defects/1000 live births in postcode districts.
RESULTSNo correlation
was found between domestic water lead concentrations > 10 µg/litre
and pregnancy prevalence of neural tube defects within postcode
districts. Areas of Glasgow previously with high domestic water lead
concentrations did not have a higher prevalence of neural tube defects.
Houses with the lowest domestic water lead concentrations were in
Carstairs deprivation categories 1 (least deprived), 6, and 7 (most
deprived). The highest pregnancy prevalence of neural tube defects was
found in the most deprived areas.
CONCLUSIONDeprivation
is a risk factor for neural tube defects and might have been a
confounding factor in previous studies looking at the association
between such defects and domestic water lead concentrations. This study
does not support the hypothesis that levels of lead > 10 µg/litre
in domestic water supplies are associated with a higher pregnancy
prevalence of neural tube defects. The reasons behind the decline in
pregnancy prevalence of neural tube defects seen in the past two
decades remain unexplained.
Keywords: neural tube defects; lead; folic acid
© 2000 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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