Lead levels among children who live in public housing.
BACKGROUND
Exposure to lead hazards is a serious health concern for inner-city children. In the United States, the greatest contributor to an elevated lead level is lead exposure in the home. There are federal regulations to protect children in public housing developments from exposure to lead paint. The efficacy of these regulations has not been examined.


METHODS
We assessed the association between residence in a public housing development and the risk of an elevated blood lead level among high-risk children in New Orleans. We did so by conducting a case-control study among 7121 children age 6 to 71 months who received a screening blood lead test from New Orleans public health clinics in 1998.


RESULTS
We found elevated blood lead levels for 29% of children who were screened. Children residing in New Orleans housing developments had lead levels no different from those residing in nondevelopment housing when controlling for housing age, and child's sex and age (odds ratio = 0.93; 95% confidence interval = 0.77-1.1).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite legislative efforts, public housing does not appear to protect children from elevated lead levels, calling into question the efficacy of existing regulations.
Rabito
Felicia A
FA
Department of Epidemiology, Center for Applied Environmental Health, Environmental Diseases Prevention Research Center, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. rabito@tulane.edu
Shorter
Charles
C
White
LuAnn E
LE
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016015:Logistic Models; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010150:Paint; D011638:Public Housing
D007854:Lead