PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF LEAD-INTOXICATION IN MEXICAN CHILDREN OF LOW SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS

This paper reports on the prevalence of lead poisoning in children bet ween I and 5 years of age living in a marginal area to the north of Me xico City and also includes an a evaluation of sources of exposure to this metal in the same area. The results show that 67.5% of the childr en studied have blood lead (PbB) levels greater than or equal to 10 mu g/100 ml. Twenty-one percent of these children (1987) had P6B levels that required medical evaluation (greater than or equal to 20 mu g/100 ml-less than or equal to 40 mu g/100 ml), and 112 children needed med ical treatment (PbB greater than or equal to 40 mu g/100 ml). In addit ion, the study found that the probability of higher blood lead levels (greater than or equal to 20 mu g/dl) corresponds to children whose mo thers use lead-glazed pottery dishes (OR = 2.80; CI 95%, 1.55-5.07) an d to children who habitually bite colored pencils (OR = 2.05; CI 95%, 1.13-3.71) compared, respectively, with children whose mothers do not use that type of dishes and children who do not bite pencil;. Our resu lts provide baseline information for estimating the impact and costs o f population-based interventions aimed at these populations and also c onfirm the need to strengthen health education programs to promote the reduction of lead exposure in the general population.