BLOOD LEAD LEVELS IN CHILDREN FROM LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC COMMUNITIES INDENVER, COLORADO

We measured blood lead levels and inquired about environmental exposur e pathways in 443 children aged 6 mo to 6 y in four lower socioeconomi c Denver, Colorado, neighborhoods. Two neighborhoods were adjacent to a cadmium refinery. Eight percent of the children had blood lead level s greater than or equal to 10 mu g/dl and 45% were below the detection limit of 4 mu g/dl. Statistical analyses specific to the problem of b elow-detection values (i.e., dichotomization of variables, the probabi lity plot method of estimation, and the bootstrap estimate of the stan dard error) were conducted to detect neighborhood differences. A child who lived in Globeville, the neighborhood surrounding the refinery, h ad a slightly higher probability of having a blood lead level greater than or equal to 5 mu g/dl. Yet, the results as a whole documented the striking decline in blood lead levels in urban children after the del eading of gasoline.