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Living in a sea of lead — changes in blood- and hand-lead of infants living near a smelter

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 17, pages 248–259 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Thirteen infants born into the lead contaminated environment of Port Pirie, South Australia, were followed approximately monthly from birth until they were about 36 months. Blood-lead levels of infants at birth were similar to their mothers but fell rapidly during the first 35 days of life. Thereafter, infants born with blood-lead levels at about 2–4 μg/dl began a slow linear increase until 14–18 months where a plateau occurred of 10.8–17.2 μg/dl. The blood-lead levels were well correlated with hand-lead loadings of infant (r2=0.72, P<0.01, log transformed data) and mother (r2=0.62, P<0.01, log transformed data) unless the birth lead level was exceptionally high. The principle factor determining exposure was thee impact of smelter emissions on the house. Blood-lead increase was caused by the relatively more rapid increase in dose of lead compared with the increasing body mass, which was related directly to the maturation of motor development. Hand-lead of mothers were closely related to both infants' blood- and hand-lead levels until the point of blood-lead plateau then substantially fell as infants began to walk unaided. The estimated slope factor using the ICRP model was 0.75–0.94 μg/dl per μg/day with a maximum daily dose of 3–5 μg/kg/day, assuming 45% absorption. Ingestion appears to be the most likely route for at least 95% of the dose.

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Acknowledgements

Early work on this study was undertaken by Sally Brinkman (formally with Port Pirie Environmental Health Centre, Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia) and Raylene Thomas (Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia). The blood-lead sampling and interviews were conducted by Raylene Thomas and Charmayne Jebb (Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia). Data entry was conducted by Charmayne Jebb and Kathy Thomas (Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia). Analytical expertise for the testing of hand-lead loadings was provided by Mike van Alphen (formally with Port Pirie Environmental Health Centre, Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia) with Angela Gialamas (formally with Port Pirie Environmental Health Centre, Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia) and Anna Swanepoel (formally with Port Pirie Environmental Health Centre, Public Health, Department of Health: South Australia) preparing them for analysis.

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  1. Department of Health, Public Health, South Australia, 5000, Australia

    David L Simon, Edward J Maynard & Katherine D Thomas

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  1. David L Simon
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Correspondence to David L Simon.

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Simon, D., Maynard, E. & Thomas, K. Living in a sea of lead — changes in blood- and hand-lead of infants living near a smelter. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 17, 248–259 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500512

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