[Decision tools for selecting industrial sites where a systematic blood lead screening should be implemented]

Children exposure to lead, even at low doses, can induce neurobehavioral and cognitive effects. In France, a consensus conference about lead poisoning in children has recently stated that exposure near an industrial site was a priority for blood lead screening. Selection criteria for industrial sites have therefore to be defined, especially because screening for lead poisoning requires a blood lead sample, that is an invasive procedure.

We propose here an operational procedure to select sites where systematic blood lead screenings have to be implemented. It is based on modeling blood lead levels of children aged 1-6 years. This is made by indirect dose estimation from environmental measurements, human exposure parameters and a dose/blood lead level relationship. Decision criteria are based on mean and extreme predicted blood lead level. The procedure is illustrated with a real life smelter case study.

For the studied smelter, estimated blood lead levels are less than 100 microg(Pb)/l(blood) and therefore do not lead to recommend a systematic blood lead screening.

Indirect dose estimation associated with blood lead level modeling is a useful tool for selecting where blood lead screenings have to be implemented around industrial sites. Possible improvements of the method are listed.