The relationship between blood lead, bone lead and child intelligence.
We report associations between serial measures of blood lead and intelligence in children age 10-12 years, half heavily exposed to lead from the prenatal period onward, and half relatively unexposed. For a subsample, we examine bone lead-IQ associations, comparing them with bone lead associations. Both blood and bone lead levels were associated with intelligence decrements, small relative to the contribution of social factors. For each doubling of Tib-Pb, Full Scale, Performance, and Verbal IQ decreased by an estimated 5.5, 6.2, and 4.1 points, respectively. Bone lead-IQ associations were stronger than those for blood lead, which nonetheless provide robust analogues. Current BPb, easy to obtain, provides a useful means for assessing Pb exposure/IQ associations.
Wasserman
Gail A
GA
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and New York State Pyschiatric Institute, New York City, 10032, USA. wassermg@child.cpmc.columbia.edu
Factor-Litvak
Pam
P
Liu
Xinhua
X
Todd
Andrew C
AC
Kline
Jennie K
JK
Slavkovich
Vesna
V
Popovac
Dusan
D
Graziano
Joseph H
JH
D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000187:drug effects*; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007854:Lead / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
D007854:Lead