[Long term consequences among children exposed to lead poisoning].
BACKGROUND
In 1996 there was a massive lead poisoning in a southern rural community in Chile. The contamination source was a mill whose grinding stone was repaired with lead and contaminated the flour.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the presence of sequelae ten years later, among subjects that were exposed to lead on that occasion.


METHODS
Cross sectional study of 77 individuals (47 males), aged 10 to 25 years, that were exposed to lead in 1996 and were treated with EDTA.


RESULTS
Twenty one percent of subjects had a subnormal intelligence quotient (IQ). The risk of having a low IQ was significantly higher among those exposed before the age of six years. IQ was significantly lower among subjects that, immediately after the exposure, had a lead level over 48 microg/dl, compared with those that had a lead level below 43 microg/dl (86.7+/-7.3 and 93+/-11.6 respectively). No subjects with high blood pressure or evidences of nephrotoxicity were detected.


CONCLUSIONS
Subjects aged less than six years at the moment of lead exposure had a lower IQ when assessed ten years later.
Coria
Carolina
C
Servicios de Neurología, Hospital Clínico Herminda Martín, Chillán, Chile. ccoria@ucsc.cl
Cabello
Aurora
A
Tassara
Enzo
E
López
Eduardo
E
Rosales
Hugo
H
Pérez
Marcelo
M
Zavala
Claudia
C
Muñoz
Patricio
P
Orellana
Gabriel
G
Inostroza
María Isabel
MI
Contreras
Lorena
L
Kirsten
Lilian
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D020264:Lead Poisoning, Nervous System, Childhood / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult