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Decreasing blood lead in Swedish children, 1978-1988
A Schütz1, R Attewell, S Skerfving
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Archives of Environmental Health
|November 1, 1989
Abstract:
The geometric mean of the blood lead concentrations in 1,781 samples obtained from children during 1978 to 1988 was 46.9 micrograms/l (0.23 mumol/l) (range: 14-250 micrograms/l [0.07-1.2 mumol/l]). There was a significant (p less than .001) decrease in blood lead concentrations of 7%/y in rural and urban areas. In 134 children who were sampled twice, the decrease over 2-y periods was 14%. The striking decrease in blood lead levels is most likely the result of a reduction of lead additives in motor fuel during this period.