Blood lead concentrations in three groups of dogs from a suburban Illinois community

Of 89 clinically normal dogs that were regular patients of a suburban Illinois veterinary hospital, all had blood-lead concentrations (BLC) within the range cited as normal in the literature. In contrast, 22% of 50 dogs from city pound and 15.3% of 98 dogs owned by low-income families of the community had BLC in excess of the normal limits. Additionally, 8% of dogs from the city pound and 4.1% of dogs from low-income families had BLC that are reported to the reliably associated with clinical lead poisoning. Socioeconomic characcteristics of the dog-owning family were more reliably associated with abnormally high BLC than were either history or clinical signs.