Skip to main content

Relationship of Blood Levels of Pb with Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Hb in Children Aged 0∼6 Years from Wuhan, China

Biological Trace Element Research volume 164, pages 18–24 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of blood lead (Pb) levels with copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), and hemoglobin (Hb) in children aged from 0–6 years in Wuhan, China. A total of 1047 children from six communities, which were randomly selected in Wuhan city and three communities, located in the urban area and others in the suburban area, were recruited for this study between November 2012 and July 2013. The levels of elements in the blood were detected using an atomic absorption spectrometer, and Hb level was tested by an automated hematology analyzer. The results showed that the mean blood lead level (BLL) is 33.72 ± 19.03 μg/L. The BLL was significantly higher among boys than girls (P < 0.05). Higher BLL was also observed in suburbs compared to that in urban areas (P < 0.05). The BLL and Zn level were gradually increased with age. The elevated rate of BLL in children was 20.9 %, while the Zn deficiency rate was 65.0 %. And, the level of Hb in higher BLL group was significantly lower. Negative correlations of the blood levels of Pb with those of Cu (r = −0.087, P = 0.005), Mg (r = −0.102, P = 0.001), and Fe (r = −0.091, P = 0.003) were observed. These data suggested that the elevated rate of BLL in children from Wuhan is still higher according to the updated reference values in the USA. The deficiency of Cu, Mg, and Fe may indicate the elevation of lead absorption. The dietary supplement of Zn, Ca, and Fe in children requires more attention.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Cobanoglu U, Demir H, Sayir F, Duran M, Mergan D (2010) Some mineral, trace element and heavy metal concentrations in lung cancer. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 11(5):1383–1388

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Renzi M, Perra G, Guerranti C, Mariottini M, Baroni D, Volterrani M, Graziosi M, Specchiulli A, Focardi S (2009) Assessment of environmental pollutants in ten southern Italy harbor sediments. Toxicol Ind Health 25(4–5):351–363. doi:10.1177/0748233709104868

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Staessen J, Yeoman WB, Fletcher AE, Markowe HL, Marmot MG, Rose G, Semmence A, Shipley MJ, Bulpitt CJ (1990) Blood lead concentration, renal function, and blood pressure in London civil servants. Br J Ind Med 47(7):442–447. doi:10.1136/oem.47.7.442

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Al-Neamy FR, Almehdi AM, Alwash R, Pasha MA, Ibrahim A, Bener A (2001) Occupational lead exposure and amino acid profiles and liver function tests in industrial workers. Int J Environ Health Res 11(2):181–188. doi:10.1080/09603120020047564

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Herman DS, Geraldine M, Venkatesh T (2007) Evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of lead poisoning in a patient with occupational lead exposure: a case presentation. J Occup Med Toxicol 2:7. doi:10.1186/1745-6673-2-7

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Bonde JP, Joffe M, Apostoli P, Dale A, Kiss P, Spano M, Caruso F, Giwercman A, Bisanti L, Porru S, Vanhoorne M, Comhaire F, Zschiesche W (2002) Sperm count and chromatin structure in men exposed to inorganic lead: lowest adverse effect levels. Occup Environ Med 59(4):234–242. doi:10.1136/Oem.59.4.234

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Martin D, Glass TA, Bandeen-Roche K, Todd AC, Shi W, Schwartz BS (2006) Association of blood lead and tibia lead with blood pressure and hypertension in a community sample of older adults. Am J Epidemiol 163(5):467–478. doi:10.1093/aje/kwj060

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Chiodo LM, Jacobson SW, Jacobson JL (2004) Neurodevelopmental effects of postnatal lead exposure at very low levels. Neurotoxicol Teratol 26(3):359–371. doi:10.1016/j.ntt.2004.01.010

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Khan DA, Qayyum S, Saleem S, Ansari WM, Khan FA (2010) Lead exposure and its adverse health effects among occupational worker’s children. Toxicol Ind Health 26(8):497–504. doi:10.1177/0748233710373085

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Rohlman DS, Anger WK, Tamulinas A, Phillips J, Bailey SR, McCauley L (2001) Development of a neurobehavioral battery for children exposed to neurotoxic chemicals. Neurotoxicology 22(5):657–665. doi:10.1016/S0161-813x(01)00049-3

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Absalon D, Slesak B (2010) The effects of changes in cadmium and lead air pollution on cancer incidence in children. Sci Total Environ 408(20):4420–4428. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.06.030

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Canfield RL, Henderson CR Jr, Cory-Slechta DA, Cox C, Jusko TA, Lanphear BP (2003) Intellectual impairment in children with blood lead concentrations below 10 μg per deciliter. N Engl J Med 348(16):1517–1526. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa022848

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Mendelsohn AL, Dreyer BP, Fierman AH, Rosen CM, Legano LA, Kruger HA, Lim SW, Barasch S, Au L, Courtlandt CD (1999) Low-level lead exposure and cognitive development in early childhood. J Dev Behav Pediatr 20(6):425–431. doi:10.1097/00004703-199912000-00004

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Jarup L (2003) Hazards of heavy metal contamination. Br Med Bull 68:167–182. doi:10.1093/Bmb/Ldg032

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Stathopoulou MG, Kanoni S, Papanikolaou G, Antonopoulou S, Nomikos T, Dedoussis G (2012) Mineral intake. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci 108:201–236. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-398397-8.00009-5

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Parsons PJ, Barbosa F Jr (2007) Atomic spectrometry and trends in clinical laboratory medicine. Spectrochim Acta Atom Spectrosc 62(9):992–1003. doi:10.1016/j.sab.2007.03.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ahamed M, Singh S, Behari JR, Kumar A, Siddiqui MK (2007) Interaction of lead with some essential trace metals in the blood of anemic children from Lucknow, India. Clin Chim Acta 377(1–2):92–97. doi:10.1016/j.cca.2006.08.032

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Mahaffey KR (1990) Environmental lead toxicity: nutrition as a component of intervention. Environ Health Perspect 89:75–78. doi:10.2307/3430900

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Bergdahl IA, Vahter M, Counter SA, Schutz A, Buchanan LH, Ortega F, Laurell G, Skerfving S (1999) Lead in plasma and whole blood from lead-exposed children. Environ Res 80(1):25–33. doi:10.1006/enrs.1998.3880

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Tripathi RM, Raghunath R, Mahapatra S, Sadasivan S (2001) Blood lead and its effect on Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe and hemoglobin levels of children. Sci Total Environ 277(1–3):161–168. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(00)00871-8

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Laidlaw MA, Zahran S, Pingitore N, Clague J, Devlin G, Taylor MP (2014) Identification of lead sources in residential environments: Sydney Australia. Environ Pollut 184:238–246. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2013.09.003

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Liu JH, Ai YX, McCauley L, Pinto-Martin J, Yan CH, Shen XM, Needleman H (2012) Blood lead levels and associated sociodemographic factors among preschool children in the South Eastern region of China. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 26(1):61–69. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3016.2011.01234.x

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Lidsky TI, Schneider JS (2003) Lead neurotoxicity in children: basic mechanisms and clinical correlates. Brain 126:5–19. doi:10.1093/Brain/Awg014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhang SM, Dai YH, Xie XH, Fan ZY, Tan ZW (2005) Study on blood lead level and related risk factors among children aged 0–6 years in 15 cities in China. Chin J Epidemiol 26(9):651–654, in Chinese

    Google Scholar 

  25. Tan ZW, Dai YH, Xie XH, Zhang SM, Fan ZY, Jia N (2011) Blood lead status and influencing factors among preschool children in urban areas of China. Chin J Pediatr 49(4):294–300, in Chinese

    Google Scholar 

  26. Wang S, Zhang J (2006) Blood lead levels in children, China. Environ Res 101(3):412–418. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2005.11.007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Zhang SM, Dai YH, Xie XH, Fan ZY, Tan ZW, Zhang YF (2009) Surveillance of childhood blood lead levels in 14 cities of China in 2004–2006. Biomed Environ Sci 22(4):288–296. doi:10.1016/S0895-3988(09)60058-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Xie XH, Tan ZW, Jia N, Fan ZY, Zhang SM, Lu YY, Chen L, Dai YH, Xie XH, Tan ZW, Jia N, Fan ZY, Zhang SM, Lu YY, Chen L, Dai YH (2013) Blood lead levels among children aged 0 to 6 years in 16 cities of China, 2004–2008. Chin Med J Peking 126(12):2291–2295

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Ko S, Schaefer PD, Vicario CM, Binns HJ (2007) Relationships of video assessments of touching and mouthing behaviors during outdoor play in urban residential yards to parental perceptions of child behaviors and blood lead levels. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 17(1):47–57. doi:10.1038/sj.jes.7500519

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Li BH (2005) Blood Pb contents of children living in Taiyuan city. J Shanxi Med Uni 36(02):184–186. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-6611.2005.02.019 (in Chinese)

  31. Sazawal S, Black RE, Menon VP, Dinghra P, Caulfield LE, Dhingra U, Bagati A (2001) Zinc supplementation in infants born small for gestational age reduces mortality: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 108(6):1280–1286

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Kosar F, Sahin I, Acikgoz N, Aksoy Y, Kucukbay Z, Cehreli S (2005) Significance of serum trace element status in patients with rheumatic heart disease—a prospective study. Biol Trace Elem Res 107(1):1–9. doi:10.1385/Bter:107:1:001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Chen X, Fan YH, Di JX (2009) Retrospective survey of trace element levels of 0–6 years old children. Contemp Med. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-4393.2009.36.132. (in Chinese)

  34. Li GT, Lu F, Xu HF (2012) The analysis of trace elements in blood of infants in Wuhan. Chin J Birth Health Heredit 20(12):124. (in Chinese)

  35. Wang H, Shi H, Chang L, Zhang X, Li J, Yang Y, Jiang Y (2012) Association of blood lead with calcium, iron, zinc and hemoglobin in children aged 0–7 years: a large population-based study. Biol Trace Elem Res 149(2):143–147. doi:10.1007/s12011-012-9413-x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Patra RC, Swarup D, Sharma MC, Naresh R (2006) Trace mineral profile in blood and hair from cattle environmentally exposed to lead and cadmium around different industrial units. J Vet Med A Physiol Pathol Clin Med 53(10):511–517. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0442.2006.00868.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Wu Y, Yang X, Ge J, Zhang J (2011) Blood lead level and its relationship to certain essential elements in the children aged 0 to 14 years from Beijing, China. Sci Total Environ 409(16):3016–3020. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.04.050

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Anetor JI, Ajose OA, Adebiyi JA, Akingbola TS, Iyanda AA, Ebesunu MO, Babalola OO, Aadeniyi FA (2007) Decreased thiamine and magnesium levels in the potentiation of the neurotoxicity of lead in occupational lead exposure. Biol Trace Elem Res 116(1):43–51. doi:10.1007/BF02685917

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Wright RO, Tsaih SW, Schwartz J, Wright RJ, Hu H (2003) Association between iron deficiency and blood lead level in a longitudinal analysis of children followed in an urban primary care clinic. J Pediatr 142(1):9–14. doi:10.1067/mpd.2003.mpd0344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Shah F, Kazi TG, Afridi HI, Baig JA, Khan S, Kolachi NF, Wadhwa SK, Shah AQ (2010) Environmental exposure of lead and iron deficit anemia in children age ranged 1–5 years: a cross sectional study. Sci Total Environ 408(22):5325–5330. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.07.091

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Park S, Sim CS, Lee H, Kim Y (2014) Effects of iron therapy on blood lead concentrations in infants. J Trace Elem Med Biol 28(1):56–59. doi:10.1016/j.jtemb.2013.11.003

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Staudinger KC, Roth VS (1998) Occupational lead poisoning. Am Fam Physician 57(4):719–726

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Katavolos P, Staempfli S, Sears W, Gancz AY, Smith DA, Bienzle D (2007) The effect of lead poisoning on hematologic and biochemical values in trumpeter swans and Canada geese. Vet Clin Pathol 36(4):341–347

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Yilmaz H, Keten A, Karacaoglu E, Tutkun E, Akcan R (2012) Analysis of the hematological and biochemical parameters related to lead intoxication. J Forensic Leg Med 19(8):452–454. doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2012.04.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all members in Professor CH. Wang’s laboratory at Wuhan University for their valuable assistances and Dr. Guoxun Chen at The University of Tennessee at Knoxville for comments of the manuscript. The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81172628) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2014305020201).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Donghu Road 115, Wuhan, 430071, People’s Republic of China

    Jingping Ye, Chuang Du, Lu Wang, Zhen Li, Shaoxin Huang, Hong Wang, Yongyi Bi & Chunhong Wang

  2. Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, People’s Republic of China

    Jingping Ye

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, Xiangnan College, Chenzhou, 423000, People’s Republic of China

    Liping He

Authors
  1. Jingping Ye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chuang Du
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhen Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shaoxin Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Liping He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Yongyi Bi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Chunhong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chunhong Wang.

Additional information

Jingping Ye and Chuang Du contributed equally to this study and share first authorship.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ye, J., Du, C., Wang, L. et al. Relationship of Blood Levels of Pb with Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Hb in Children Aged 0∼6 Years from Wuhan, China. Biol Trace Elem Res 164, 18–24 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-014-0200-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-014-0200-8

Keyword

  • Blood
  • Children
  • Lead
  • Essential element
  • Hemoglobin