| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
RESEARCH AND PRACTICE |
S. A. Boseila and A. A. Gabr are with the Child Health Department, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt. I. A. Hakim is with the College of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Iman Hakim, MD, PhD, MPH, College of Public Health, University of Arizona, 1515 N. Campbell Ave., P.O. Box 245024, Tucson, AZ 85724 (e-mail: ihakim{at}u.arizona.edu).
 |
INTRODUCTION |
|---|
 TOP INTRODUCTION METHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONReferences |
|---|
|
METHODS |
|---|
|
TOPINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONReferences |
|---|
A structured questionnaire was used to collect the following information: first, demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental information (age, gender, parents’ education, parents’ occupation, use of traditional cosmetics or remedies, smoking, housing condition, and street width and paving condition), and second, the child’s hygiene practices and hand-to-mouth activities (hand washing, eating with fingers, sucking thumbs and fingers, chewing nails, use of pacifier, pica [an abnormal desire to eat substances not normally eaten], and carrying preferred toy all day).
Houses were evaluated with respect to building materials, pavement, condition of paint, sleeping site of children, and the type of floor in the house.
Blood specimens were analyzed for lead by flameless atomic absorption at the Air and Industrial Hygiene Laboratory, California State Department of Health Services, Berkeley, Calif.
Data analysis was conducted using Intercooled Stata 6 (Stata Corp, College Station, Tex). Kruskal–Wallis 1-way analysis of variance was used to examine the effect of social and environmental factors on PbB. Linear regression analyses were carried out using the natural logarithm of PbB levels as the dependent variable. Significant variables were then retested in a multiple regression analysis model. The variables included in the final model were site, age, gender, traffic, mother’s occupation, mother’s education, father’s education, condition of paint in the house, and sleep site.
|
RESULTS |
|---|
|
TOPINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONReferences |
|---|
). Younger children had significantly higher PbB levels than older children.
|
.
|
|
DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
TOPINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONReferences |
|---|
Lead-contaminated soil and dust in high-traffic areas significantly contribute to the children’s lead intake.12 The finding that children living in high-traffic streets had significantly lower PbB levels than those living in low-traffic streets was unexpected. Given that children living in low-traffic areas are more likely to spend most of their time playing in the street (being quite and safe), it is possible that some Pb in dust or soil in the contaminated outdoor environments contributed to their higher PbB levels. In addition, the low-traffic streets are more likely to be narrow and unpaved or unmaintained, thus increasing the possibility of lead exposure.
Our data as well as previous data3,13 showed that PbB levels differed considerably among children classified by housing quality. Of particular interest was the question of whether children sleep on the floor. The concern was that children who sleep on the floor might have greater contact with lead than those who sleep in beds. The finding that the mother’s occupation remained in the final model and had a direct significant link with PbB was unexpected. It is more likely that housewives spend more time cleaning their houses and taking care of their young children.
These observations led us to conclude that young Egyptian children, like children from other countries, are especially susceptible to Pb exposure, despite the differences in the sources of exposure. In this context, lead poisoning in Egypt constitutes a public health challenge, but no simple solutions are envisioned. Perhaps one of the few real options at hand in the short term is the implementation of vigorous, community-based health education programs.
|
Acknowledgments |
|---|
We thank Drs Soheir Salem (National Research Center, Egypt), Osman Galal and Gail Harrison (University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health), and G. Guirguis (Air and Industrial Hygiene laboratory, California State Department of Health Services, Berkeley, California) for their support throughout the project.
Human Participation Protection
The protocol was approved by the scientific review committee of the Child Health Department at The National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.
|
Footnotes |
|---|
Accepted for publication December 6, 2002.
|
References |
|---|
|
TOPINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONReferences |
|---|
2. Finkelstein Y, Markowitz ME, Rosen JF. Low-level lead-induced neurotoxicity in children: an update on central nervous system effects. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1998;27(2):168–176.[Medline]
3. Bornschein RL, Succop P, Dietrich KN, Clark CS, Que Hee S, Hammond PB. The influence of social and environmental factors on dust lead, hand lead and blood lead levels in young children. Environ Res. 1985;38:108–118.[Medline]
4. Rabinowitz M, Leviton A, Needleman H, Bellinger D, Waternaux C. Environmental correlates of infant blood lead levels in Boston. Environ Res. 1985;38:96–107.[Medline]
5. Schutz A, Barregard L, Sallsten G, Wilske J, Manay N, Pereira L, Cousillas ZA. Blood lead in Uruguayan children and possible sources of exposure. Environ Res. 1997;74:17–23.[Medline]
6. Stromberg U, Schutz A, Skerfving S. Substantial decrease in blood lead in Swedish children, 1978–94, associated with petrol lead. Occup Environ Med. 1995;52:764–769.[Abstract]
7. Amodio-Cocchieri R, Arnese A, Prospero E, Roncioni A, Baruffo L, Ullucci R, Romano V. Lead in human blood from children living in Campania, Italy. J Toxicol Environ Health. 1996;47:311–320.[Medline]
8. Al-Saleh I, Mustafa A, Dufour L, Taylor A, Hiton R. Lead exposure in the City of Arar, Saudi Arabia. Arch Environ Health. 1996;51:73–82.[ISI][Medline]
9. Lopez-Carrillo L, Torres-Sanchez L, Garrido F, Papaqui-Hernandez J, Palazuelos-Rendon E, Lopez-Cervantes M. Prevalence and determinants of lead intoxication in Mexican children of low socioeconomic status. Environ Health Perspect. 1996;104:1208–1211[ISI][Medline]
10. Wilhelm M, Lombeck I, Kouros B, Wuthe J, Ohnesorge FK. Duplicate study on the dietary intake of some metals/metalloids by children in Germany: Part II. Aluminum, cadmium and lead [in German]. Zentralbl Hyg Umweltmed. 1995;197(5):357–369.[Medline]
11. Lin-Fu JS. (1982) Children and lead. N Engl J Med. 307:615–616[ISI][Medline]
12. Rahman, H, Alkhayat, A, Menon, N. (1986) Lead poisoning in infancy-unusual causes in the U.A.E. Ann Trop Paediatr. 6:213–217[ISI][Medline]
13. Clark CS, Bornschein RL, Succop P, Que Hee S, Hammond PB, Peace B. Condition and type of housing as an indicator of potential environmental lead exposure and pediatric blood lead levels. Environ Res. 1985;38:46–53[Medline]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
