‘Safe’ lead levels harm children
September 19th, 2009
Author: admin
Young children’s exposure to lead in the environment is harming their intellectual and emotional development, according to UK researchers.
Lead is linked to a number of health problems
The researchers say the toxic effects of lead on the central nervous system are obvious even below the current so-called safe level of lead in the blood.
They are recommending the threshold should be halved.
A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency said levels of exposure should be kept to the minimum.
Lead has been removed from paint and petrol by law in the UK, but it is still widespread in the environment.
The study from the University of Bristol Centre for Child and Adolescent Health set out to see if there was any effect on the behaviour and intellectual development of children who had ingested just below the so-called safe level of 10 microgrammes per decilitre (or tenth of a litre) of blood.
The study is published in the journal, Archives of Diseases in Childhood.
Lead levels
The Bristol researchers took blood samples from 582 children at the age of 30 months.
They found 27% of the children had lead levels above five microgrammes per decilitre.
They followed the children’s progress at regular intervals and then assessed their academic performance and behavioural patterns when they were seven to eight years old.
After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, they found that blood lead levels at 30 months showed significant associations with educational achievement, antisocial behaviour and hyperactivity scores five years later. Read more…
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