Association of dental enamel lead levels with risk factors for environmental exposure.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze household risk factors associated with high lead levels in surface dental enamel.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 160 Brazilian adolescents aged 1418 years living in poor neighborhoods in the city of Bauru, southeastern Brazil, from August to December 2008. Body lead concentrations were assessed in surface dental enamel acid-etch microbiopsies. Dental enamel lead levels were measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and phosphorus levels were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The parents answered a questionnaire about their children's potential early (05 years old) exposure to well-known lead sources. Logistic regression was used to identify associations between dental enamel lead levels and each environmental risk factor studied. Social and familial covariables were included in the models.


RESULTS
The results suggest that the adolescents studied were exposed to lead sources during their first years of life. Risk factors associated with high dental enamel lead levels were living in or close to a contaminated area (OR = 4.49; 95% CI: 1.69;11.97); and member of the household worked in the manufacturing of paints, paint pigments, ceramics or batteries (OR = 3.43; 95% CI: 1.31;9.00). Home-based use of lead-glazed ceramics, low-quality pirated toys, anticorrosive paint on gates and/or sale of used car batteries (OR = 1.31; 95% CI: 0.56;3.03) and smoking (OR = 1.66; 95% CI: 0.52;5.28) were not found to be associated with high dental enamel lead levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Surface dental enamel can be used as a marker of past environmental exposure to lead and lead concentrations detected are associated to well-known sources of lead contamination.
Olympio
Kelly Polido Kaneshiro
KP
Departamento de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Naozuka
Juliana
J
Oliveira
Pedro Vitoriano
PV
Cardoso
Maria Regina Alves
MR
Bechara
Etelvino José Henriques
EJ
Günther
Wanda Maria Risso
WM
D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000737:chemistry*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
D007854:Lead