title: Lead levels in primary teeth in children from urban and rural areas in Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lead (Pb) is one of the most important and widely distributed pollutants in the environment. Lead concentration in human primary teeth reflects children's exposure to the metal during early life. OBJECTIVE.: In this study we wanted to get preliminary information of the level of lead exposure in Ethiopian children in rural as well as urban areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary incisors, exfoliated 1998-2000, were collected from Addis Ababa, the capital, and two rural villages in the Rift Valley. The teeth were analyzed for lead concentrations by graphite furnace atomic absorption Spectrophotometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Very high lead concentrations were not found. However, teeth from Addis Ababa had statistically significant higher lead concentrations than teeth from the Rift Valley. Teeth from both villages showed very low Pb-concentrations, but one village (Village A) had significantly higher concentrations than the other (Village K). The living conditions of the two villages were similar, the main diference being the fluoride content of the drinking water. The village with the lowest tooth-lead had the highest fluoride concentration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that child lead exposure in Ethiopia is relatively low, especially in the rural populations.
authors: Department of Oral Sciences, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors: Helene M
authors: HM
authors: Tvinnereim
authors: Wondwossen
authors: W
authors: Fantaye
authors: Rolf
authors: R
authors: Isrenn
authors: Kjell
authors: K
authors: Bjorvatn
authors: Zenebe
authors: Z
authors: Melaku
authors: Redda
authors: R
authors: Teklehaimanot
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000737:chemistry*; D014505:Urban Population; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead