title: Non-parametric age related centile curves for blood lead levels in blood donors from northern Italy.
abstract: Healy's non-parametric method, originally applied to growth data, provides an efficient and flexible tool for computing smoothed centile curves. We used this procedure to calculate reference curves for blood lead levels. A sample of 402 blood donors living in Brescia and its surrounding area was used as a reference population. No exclusion criteria but occupational exposure to lead were adopted. The comparison between the reference values obtained with Healy's procedure and the tolerance limits, based on the normal approximation, computed within age strata is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001699:Biometry; D001782:Blood Donors; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D008433:Mathematics; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D007854:Lead