Increased lead absorption in children with accidental ingestions.
Children with accidental ingestions exhibit excessive hand-to-mouth behavior. In a lead-burdened environment, hand-to-mouth behavior contributes to increased lead absorption. To test the hypothesis that accidental-ingestion patients experience greater lead absorption than other urban children, 95 children under 6 years of age with recent ingestions of nonlead-containing materials and a matched control group were compared. Ingestors had higher mean blood lead levels than controls (25.0 micrograms/dl versus 22.2 micrograms/dl, P = 0.036) and higher mean erythrocyte protoporphyrin levels (40.6 micrograms/dl versus 28.6 micrograms/dl, P = 0.006). Ingestion victims were more than three times as likely as controls to be classified as having increased lead absorption. Thumb-sucking was twice as common among ingestors as controls (37% versus 19%). These findings indicate that children with accidental ingestions are at greater risk of increased lead absorption than other urban children.
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010842:Pica / Q000150:complications*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011524:Protoporphyrins / Q000378:metabolism; D014505:Urban Population
D011524:Protoporphyrins; D007854:Lead