Comparison of blood lead levels in three groups of Sardinian children

This paper reports blood lead levels in children from three Sardinian municipalities: Portoscuso, Iglesias, and Sestu. Portoscuso, chosen as the control area, is located about 2 km from one of the most important industrial complexes of the island. Iglesias was once an important zinc-lead mining centre. Sestu is a semi-urban centre located about 10 km from Cagliari (the islands's capital), and may be considered unexposed to lead pollution. Blood lead concentration was evaluated in heparinized venous blood samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Children living in Portoscuso show a higher mean of blood lead levels (8.43 micrograms/dl) as compared to that of children of the same age living in Iglesias (6.92 micrograms/dl) and Sestu (5.71 micrograms/dl). By the Bonferroni t-tests procedure these mean differences appear to be statistically significant. The mean of PbB levels obtained in this investigation for children from Portoscuso showed a decrease of 33.62% with respect to that reported in a previous investigation carried out in 1987 (12.7 micrograms/dl).