A survey on blood lead level among school children from 7 to 12 and the effect of low-level lead exposure on children's health

Objective:To investigate the blood lead level and the effect of low-level lead exposure on school children's health in both urban and rural regions of Taian City,Shandong province.Methods:Blood lead was determined by the meth- od of atom absorption.Among them we investigated 40 high blood lead pupils and 60 low-level lead exposure pupils clini- cally and detected part of the blood index,then we compared those with 40 normal group.The behaviors of children were assessed with Conners' Rating Scale.Results:The rate of high blood lead measured was 4.25% and the rate of low-level lead exposure measured was 7.25%.Regression and correlation analysis showed that there was no significant difference be- tween males and females.But there was a significant difference in morbidity rate of children's blood lead level increase in the different age groups.The symptoms,like headache,anorexia,repeated infection of respiratory tract,bad temper and lack of concentration in both high blood lead groups and low-levels lead exposure groups occurred more frequently than those in the normal groups;Both MCV and MCH were all lower than those in the normal groups (P0.05).But there was no significant difference between the former two groups(P0.05).Conclusion:The percentage of high blood lead pupils in- creases with the age growth in 7～12 years old group,and the health of children with high blood lead and low-levels lead exposure has been affected.