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Updated: Jul 31, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Lead exposure and hearing effects in children in Katowice, Poland
1Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, S-171 77, Sweden.
Insights
Children
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatrics
- Toxicology
Background:
- Industrial areas pose risks to child health.
- Lead exposure is a significant environmental concern for children's development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between blood lead levels and hearing function in children.
- To determine if hearing impairment occurs at low blood lead concentrations.
Main Methods:
- Blood lead levels (B-Pb) measured in 155 children (aged 4-14) using ICP-MS.
- Hearing thresholds assessed across multiple frequencies (0.5-8 kHz).
- Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) used to evaluate auditory pathway function.
Main Results:
- Hearing thresholds significantly increased with higher blood lead levels.
- Impaired hearing was observed even at B-Pb levels below 100 microg/L.
- Increased BAEP wave I latency noted in children with the highest B-Pb levels.
Conclusions:
- Auditory function in children is negatively impacted by lead exposure.
- Even blood lead concentrations below 100 microg/L can impair children's hearing.
- Environmental lead exposure poses a risk to pediatric auditory health.
Abstract:
The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between lead exposure and hearing in children in the Katowice region, an industrial area in Poland. Blood lead was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, with appropriate quality control. The concentrations of lead in blood (B-Pb) in 155 children, aged 4-14, ranged from 19 to 281 microg/L (0.09 to 1.4 micromol/L), with a median of 72 microg/L (0.34 micromol/L). The hearing thresholds increased significantly with increasing blood lead levels at all investigated frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 kHz). The relationship also remained significant for B-Pb below 100 microg/L (0.48 micomol/L; n=107). The brainstem auditory evoked potential latency of wave I was significantly increased (also after adjustment for age) in the group of children with the highest blood lead levels (B-Pb above 100 microg/L, 0.48 micromol/L; n=51), compared to the group with the lowest ones (B-Pb below 46 microg/L, 0.22 micromol/L; n=51). The audiometric results clearly indicate that auditory function in children is impaired at a blood lead concentration even below 100 microg/L (0.5 micromol/L).
