 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Kristina M Zierold, PhD, MS, Wisconsin Division of Public Health, One West Wilson, Room 150, Madison, WI 53701-2659, 608-261-6866, kaz5@cdc.gov and Henry Anderson, MD, Bureau of Occupational Health, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Public Health, 1 West Wilson Street, Room B157, P.O. Box 2659, Madison, WI 53701-2659.
Childhood lead poisoning results in central nervous system, hematologic, and kidney damage. The most important factor in controlling lead poisoning is reducing the child’s exposure to lead. CDC recommends that within 10 days of detection of a blood lead level (BLL)>=20ug/dL, public health officials begin environmental intervention. To investigate factors associated with BLL decline, data from Wisconsin’s lab-based BLL reporting system were analyzed for all non-transient children<6 years whose maximum BLL was 20-40ug/dL and for whom housing intervention data were available (n=172). Using each child’s successive BLL tests, linear regression was used to determine the BLL half-life for each child. Regression results with correlations, r<0.70 were removed(n=21). To further investigate factors associated with differences in half-lives, proportional hazards regression modeling was conducted in SAS. The mean half-life was found to be 709 days. The median time from first BLL>=20 ug/dL to completed housing remediation was 196 days. Children whose abatement times took longer than 6 months were at a 1.63 times higher risk for having longer half-lives than children whose housing abatement was completed in less than 6 months. Additional predictors of longer half-lives included age>1 year (HR=2.01, 95%CI:1.27,3.19), black race (HR=1.87, 95%CI:1.29,2.74), first BLL test <30ug/dL (HR=2.10, 95%CI:1.87,3.73) and children living in cities (HR 2.64, 95%CI:1.87,3.73). Without timely remediation, continued lead exposure slows the rate of BLL decline. Impediments to rapid dwelling remediation must be overcome.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Lead, Children's Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.