title: [Trend in lead exposure in the Spanish child population in the last 20 years. An unrecognized example of health in all policies?].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the time trend in atmospheric lead concentrations in Spain, from before lead was banned as a gasoline additive to the present, and to determine the trend in lead body burden in the Spanish child population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained the annual average for atmospheric lead levels in several Spanish cities from the 1980s to the present. A literature search was conducted to identify published studies on lead concentrations in populations of Spanish children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, atmospheric lead levels decreased, particularly between 1991 and 1999. This downward trend was related to a decrease in lead concentrations in Spanish children from 1989, the year in which the first study of childhood lead exposure was published, until the present. The decreased concentrations in both air and in children was most probably a result of legislative measures regulating the maximum amount of lead in gasoline in 1987 until a complete ban in August 2001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From a public health point of view, the banning of leaded gasoline has significantly increased health protection in the Spanish population.
authors.affiliation: Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública (CSISP), Valencia, España; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), España. llop_sab@gva.es
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Llop
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porta
authors.forename: Maria Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Xabier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Aguinagalde
authors.forename: Mariana F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Somoano
authors.forename: Maribel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casas
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vrijheid
authors.forename: Mikel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayerdi
authors.forename: Adonina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tardón
authors.forename: Ferran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ballester
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007854:Lead / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D013030:Spain; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D007854:Lead