Home refinishing, lead paint, and infant blood lead levels

We measured the blood lead levels of 249 infants semi-annually from birth to two years of age; we sampled the home paint and recorded any recent home refinishing activity. Mean blood lead from birth to age 2 years did not vary systematically with age but did correlate significantly with the amount of lead in the indoor paint (p less than .01). Refinishing activity in homes with high lead paint was associated with elevations of blood lead averaging 69 per cent.