Lead Exposure in Young Children from Dust and Soil in the United Kingdom

A survey of metals in United Kingdom dusts and soils has confirmed widespread lead contamination with a geometric mean value for lead in surface (0-5 cm) garden soils of 266 μg/g and in housedusts of 561 μg/g (excluding old mining areas). A subsequent detailed survey of 97 householders in Birmingham...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health perspectives 1990-11, Vol.89, p.55-60
Main Authors: Thornton, I., Davies, D. J. A., Watt, J. M., Quinn, M. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
Acid soils
AGE GROUPS
Agricultural soils
Agrology
Child, Preschool
CHILDREN
CONTAMINATION
Data Collection
DIET
DRINKING WATER
Dust - analysis
DUSTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
Environmental Lead
EUROPE
Geometric mean
Home gardens
Horticultural soils
Humans
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
Lead
Lead - analysis
Lead - blood
LEAD COMPOUNDS
Lead Poisoning - blood
Lead Poisoning - epidemiology
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT
Soil Pollutants - analysis
Soil pollution
Soil samples
SOILS
UNITED KINGDOM
United Kingdom - epidemiology
WATER
WESTERN EUROPE
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Description
Summary:A survey of metals in United Kingdom dusts and soils has confirmed widespread lead contamination with a geometric mean value for lead in surface (0-5 cm) garden soils of 266 μg/g and in housedusts of 561 μg/g (excluding old mining areas). A subsequent detailed survey of 97 householders in Birmingham with 2-year-old children showed dust lead loading in the home environment to be an important predictor of blood lead concentrations in young children, when both variables fell within the normal range for the U.K. The total estimated lead uptake by the young child was 36 μg/day of which 1 μg was by inhalation and 35 μg by ingestion.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.1289/ehp.908955