Children’s Blood Lead Concentrations from 1988 to 2015 in Mexico City: The Contribution of Lead in Air and Traditional Lead-Glazed Ceramics

Ivan Pantic, Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz, Antonio Rosa-Parra, Luis Bautista-Arredondo, Robert O. Wright, Karen E. Peterson, Lourdes Schnaas, Stephen J. Rothenberg, Howard Hu and Martha María Téllez-Rojo
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Ivan Pantic: Department of Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute of Perinatology, Mexico City 11000, CDMX, Mexico
Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz: National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico City 03940, CDMX, Mexico
Antonio Rosa-Parra: Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca 62100, Morelos, Mexico
Luis Bautista-Arredondo: Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca 62100, Morelos, Mexico
Robert O. Wright: Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Karen E. Peterson: Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Lourdes Schnaas: Department of Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute of Perinatology, Mexico City 11000, CDMX, Mexico
Stephen J. Rothenberg: Center for Population Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca 62100, Morelos, Mexico
Howard Hu: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Martha María Téllez-Rojo: Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca 62100, Morelos, Mexico

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: Despite the removal of lead from gasoline in 1997, elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) > 5 µg/dL are still detectable in children living in Mexico City. The use of lead-glazed ceramics may explain these persistent exposure levels. Mexico lacks a national surveillance program for BLL, but temporal trends can be derived from epidemiological studies. With this approach, we leveraged a series of birth cohorts to report BLL trends from 1987 to 2002 and expanded our analysis to 2015. Data were from 1–5-year-old children from five Mexico City cohorts followed between 1988 and 2015. BLLs are reported on 1963 children, who contributed 4975 BLLs. We estimated the trend of mean BLL, which decreased from 15.7 µg/dL in 1988, to 7.8 µg/dL in 1998 (a year after the total ban of lead in gasoline), to 1.96 µg/dL in 2015. The proportion of BLL ≥ 5 µg/dL decreased from 92% (1988–1998) to 8% (2008–2015). The use of lead-glazed ceramics was associated with an 11% increase in BLLs throughout the study period. Replacing lead-based glazes in traditional ceramics may be the key to further reducing exposure, but this presents challenges, as it involves a cultural tradition deeply rooted in Mexico. In addition, the creation of a rigorous, standardized, and on-going surveillance program of BLL is necessary for identifying vulnerable populations.

Keywords: children’s blood lead; Mexico City cohorts; lead in air; lead-glazed ceramics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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