Children are the most susceptible population to lead exposure because of th
ree interacting factors; they have more opportunity for contact with lead s
ources due to their activities, lead absorption occurs more readily in a ch
ild compared to an adult, and the child's development is more vulnerable to
lead than adults. Low levels of lead in the blood have been shown to cause
adverse health effects; the level of concern for children is currently 10
mug/dl. The contribution of dietary exposure of lead to increased blood lea
d levels (PbB) is not well characterized. This study was conducted to measu
re potential dietary lead intakes of children 2 to 3 years of age who live
in homes contaminated with environmental lead. Objectives were to estimate
lead intakes for children consuming food in contaminated environments, reco
gnizing unstructured eating patterns and to investigate if correlations exi
st between daily dietary exposure and measured PbB. Dietary exposure was ev
aluated by collecting samples that were typical of the foods the young chil
dren ate in their homes. A 24-h duplicate of all foods plus sentinel foods,
i.e., individual items used to represent foods contaminated during handlin
g, were collected from 48 children. Ten homes were revisited to obtain info
rmation on the variation in daily dietary intakes. Drinking water was evalu
ated both as part of the segregated beverage sample composite and by itself
. Additional information collected included lead concentrations from hand w
ipes, floor wipes, and venous blood, and questionnaire responses from the c
aregiver on activities potentially related to exposure. Activities and hygi
ene practices of the children and contamination of foods in their environme
nt influences total dietary intake. Estimated mean dietary intakes of lead
(29.2 mug Pb/day) were more than three times the measured 24-h duplicate-di
et levels (8.37 mug Pb/day), which were almost six times higher than curren
t national estimates (1.40 mug Pb/day). Statistically significant correlati
ons were observed between floor wipes and foods contacting contaminated sur
faces, hand wipes and foods contacting contaminated hands and surfaces, and
hand wipes and floor wipes. This study indicates that the dietary pathway
of exposure to lead is impacted by eating activities of children living in
lead-contaminated environments and that analysis of foods themselves is not
enough to determine excess dietary exposures that are occurring.