Article
Should children with developmental and behavioural problems be
routinely screened for lead?
G Lewendon, S Kinra, R Nelder, T Cronin
South & West Devon
Health Authority, The Lescaze Offices, Dartington, Devon TQ9 6JE,
UK
Correspondence to: Dr Lewendon gill.lewendon{at}sw-devon-ha.swest.nhs.uk
Accepted 6 July 2001
AIM
To test the hypothesis that
children with behavioural and/or developmental problems have
significantly higher blood lead concentrations than the general
childhood population.
METHODSBlood samples were taken
from 69 children with behavioural and/or developmental problems and 136 controls (children admitted for elective day case surgery under general
anaesthetic). Blood lead estimations were carried out using graphite
furnace atomic absorption
RESULTSChildren with behavioural
and/or developmental problems had higher lead concentrations than
controls, both in terms of their distribution across the group
(meangeometric lead concentrations: 40.7 (cases), 29.2 (controls), ratio of the meansgeometric 1.35 (95% CI 1.17, 1.58)) and the proportion of children with lead concentrations above
those commonly defined as "toxic"that is, 100 µg/l (12%
(cases), 0.7% (controls); p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression
suggested that this difference was not explained by differences in age,
sex, or socioeconomic status of the two comparison groups.
CONCLUSIONSChildren with
behavioural and/or developmental problems are more likely to have
significantly higher blood lead concentrations than the general
childhood population. Lead, a known and more importantly, a treatable
neurotoxin, would further contribute to the impairment suffered by
these children. We argue that this group of children should be
routinely screened for lead.
Keywords: developmental problems; behavioural problems; lead; screening
© 2001 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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eLetters:
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- Lead Toxicity and Behavior
- Roger D Masters
- ADC Online, 26 Sep 2001 [Full text]
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