Primary Prevention of Lead Exposure—Blood Lead Results at Age Two Years

Carla Campbell, Edward Gracely, Mary Tran, Naomi Starkey, Hans Kersten, Peter Palermo, Nancy Rothman, Laura Line and Tine Hansen-Turton
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Carla Campbell: School of Public Health, Drexel University, 1505 Race Street, MS 1034, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
Edward Gracely: College of Medicine, Family, Community, and Preventive Medicine, Drexel University, 2900 Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19129, USA
Mary Tran: School of Public Health, Drexel University, 1505 Race Street, MS 1034, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
Naomi Starkey: National Nursing Centers Consortium, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
Hans Kersten: St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, East Erie Avenue and North Front Street, Philadelphia, PA 19134, USA
Peter Palermo: Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, 2100 West Girard Avenue, Building #3, Philadelphia, PA 19130, USA
Nancy Rothman: National Nursing Centers Consortium, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
Laura Line: National Nursing Centers Consortium, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
Tine Hansen-Turton: National Nursing Centers Consortium, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-11

Abstract: Objectives : The Philadelphia Lead Safe Homes (LSH) Study was designed to evaluate whether educational and environmental interventions in the first year of life for families of newborns increased knowledge of lead exposure prevention and were associated with less elevation of blood lead levels (BLLs) for these children, when compared to children receiving standard care. Methods : The current study performed descriptive statistics on the second-year BLL data for both groups and compared these using chi-square tests for proportions and unpaired t-tests for means. Results : A BLL result was found for 159 (50.6%) of the 314 LSH cohort children and 331 (52.7%) of the 628 control children ( p = 0.1). Mean and standard deviation for age at draw was 23.8 (3.4) months versus 23.6 (3.1) months ( P = 0.6). Geometric mean BLLs were 3.7 versus 3.5 µg/dL ( P = 0.4). The percentages of the cohort group with a BLL of ?20, ?10 and ?5 ?g/dL, respectively, were 0.6%, 5% and 30%; for the controls 1.2%, 6.6%, and 25%. These percentages were not significantly different between groups. Conclusion : A comparison of geometric mean BLLs and percentages above several BLL cut points drawn at age two years in a group of urban newborns benefitting from study interventions versus a group of similar urban children did not yield statistically significant differences. Both groups had relatively lower lead levels when compared to historical cohort groups, which may reflect a continuing downward trend in BLLs in U.S. children. The interventions did result in benefits to the families such as an increase in parental knowledge about lead exposure prevention and in-home wet cleaning activity, and a decrease in lead dust levels in study homes.

Keywords: childhood lead poisoning; primary prevention of lead exposure; blood lead levels; children’s environmental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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