title: Lead contents in the surface enamel of primary and permanent teeth, whole blood, serum, and saliva of 6- to 8-year-old children.
abstract: This study aimed to evaluate associations of Pb-enamel values determined in two successive enamel microbiopsies taken from a primary and a permanent tooth, and to assess how Pb-enamel correlates with Pb-blood and Pb-serum as well as whole (Pb-whole-saliva), submandibular/sublingual (Pb-sub-saliva) and parotid saliva (Pb-parotid-saliva). The study population included 444 children aged 6 to 8years attending 4 government schools in the district of Campos Eliseos, in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Whole blood, serum, parotid, submandibular/sublingual ("sub-saliva"), and whole saliva were collected in trace element-free tubes. Two successive microbiopsies were taken from the surface of a primary and a permanent tooth of each child. Lead concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). There was a significant correlation between primary and permanent teeth in terms of Pb-enamel, for both the first and the second microbiopsies. When the median Pb-enamel values were compared between the two genders using only the highest 10th percentile Pb-enamel, there was a significant difference between girls and boys for both primary (474.2 vs 910.0μg/g, respectively; p=0.02) and permanent teeth (739.5 vs 1325μg/g, respectively; p=0.04). There were no significant correlations between Pb-enamel and Pb-blood or between Pb-enamel and lead in the 3 different salivas. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between Pb-enamel and Pb-serum when only the highest 10th percentile Pb-enamel was analyzed (r=0.57 and p=0.0002 for primary teeth; r=0.56 and p<0.0001, for permanent teeth). In conclusion, our findings have demonstrated a significant correlation between Pb-enamel found in primary and permanent teeth, as well as a significant correlation between Pb-serum and lead in primary and permanent tooth enamel. Boys presented higher Pb-enamel than girls. Our study also suggests that Pb-enamel has no correlation with Pb-blood or with lead in the 3 different salivas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Morphology, Estomatology and Physiology, Dental School of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo - FORP/USP, Av. do Café, S/N, Monte Alegre, CEP 14040-904, Ribeirao Preto-SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Glauce Regina
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Costa de Almeida
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Sousa Guerra
authors.forename: Giselle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Angelo Souza Leite
authors.forename: Raquel Carros
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Antonio
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: José Eduardo
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Tanus-Santos
authors.forename: Raquel Fernanda
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Gerlach
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000378:metabolism*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead