An investigation of elevated blood lead levels in Detroit children

The findings of this report are based on data from 1309 children living near three heavily traveled streets in Detroit. This study was designed to determine the most probable reasons for elevated blood lead levels in young children. The authors used a linear multivariate regression to evaluate the effects of distance from the highway, age and sex of the child, and housing condition. The authors found that the distance the child lived from the highway did not have a measurable affect on blood lead level. Housing condition played the most important role in determining blood lead level. Poorer housing caused a higher average blood lead level and caused the blood lead distribution to skew, giving a significantly greater number of blood leads over 40 micrograms/100 ml. Age also was important in determining blood lead level. There was a decrease of about 1 micrograms/100 for each increase of one year in the child's age. Sex also appeared to play a small role. In all three areas of the study, blood lead levels were slightly higher in girls than in boys. This study shows, as many have before, that the primary cause of the lead problem with children can be greatly diminished by improved housing.