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Lead exposure from households and school settings: influence of diet on blood lead levels

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Abstract

Lead is known as a potent toxicant to human health, particularly for children while their central nervous system is developing. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between blood lead levels (BLLs) and lead exposure in the children’s diet, home, and school environments. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 153 children aged 1–4 years, in four day care centers (DCCs), where a high prevalence of lead exposure was previously found. Lead determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS) was performed for venous blood, drinking water collected in the DCCs, and the 24-h diet (n = 64). Environmental screenings were conducted to evaluate lead concentrations in the tableware, buildings, and playground items in all DCCs and children’s homes (n = 18) by using a field-portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer (FP-XRF). The BLL mean was 2.71 μg dL−1. Means for 24-h lead concentrations in the diet were 1.61 and 2.24 μg kg−1 of body weight (BW) in two DCCs. Lead concentrations in the water supply were lower than 2 μg L−1. More than 11% of the DCCs’ environmental analyses presented lead concentrations higher than or equal to 1 mg cm−2, as defined by the USEPA. The diet was not found to be a risk factor for lead exposure, but households and DCC settings raised concern. Children’s exposure to lead in DCC environments, where they spend the most part of their weekdays, appeared to be relevant.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the valuable collaboration of all directors and teachers of the day care centers and the volunteers and their families involved in this investigation.

Funding

This study was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo FAPESP (Grants 2011/23272-0, 2012/21840-4, 2014/20945-2, 2014/22118-6, 2015/01395-4) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CNPq (Grant: #441996/2014-0).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 715, Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01246-904, Brazil

    Isabelle Nogueira Leroux, Ana Paula Sacone da Silva Ferreira, Júlia Prestes da Rocha Silva, Flávio Ferreira Bezerra, Fernanda Junqueira Salles & Kelly Polido Kaneshiro Olympio

  2. Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Avenida dos Estados, 5001, Bairro Santa Terezinha, Santo André, SP, CEP 09210-580, Brasil

    Fábio Ferreira da Silva

  3. Centro de Tecnologia e Metalurgia dos Materiais/Laboratório de Processos Metalúrgicos (CTMM/LPM), Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas (IPT), Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, 532, Cidade Universitária, Butantã, São Paulo, SP, CEP 05508-901, Brazil

    Maciel Santos Luz

  4. Departamento de Química, Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Professor Arthur Riedel, Eldorado, Diadema, São Paulo, CEP 09972-270, Brazil

    Nílson Antônio de Assunção

  5. Departamento de Epidemiologia, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 715, Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01246-904, Brazil

    Maria Regina Alves Cardoso

Authors
  1. Isabelle Nogueira Leroux
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  2. Ana Paula Sacone da Silva Ferreira
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  3. Júlia Prestes da Rocha Silva
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  4. Flávio Ferreira Bezerra
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  5. Fábio Ferreira da Silva
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  6. Fernanda Junqueira Salles
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  7. Maciel Santos Luz
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  8. Nílson Antônio de Assunção
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  9. Maria Regina Alves Cardoso
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  10. Kelly Polido Kaneshiro Olympio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kelly Polido Kaneshiro Olympio.

Ethics declarations

This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Public Health of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (Protocol #1.127.698).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

• More than 75% of children had a lead ingestion higher than EFSA limits.

• There was no significant correlation found between lead ingestion through the diet and BLL.

• BLL were not associated with the mean of lead found in the household screenings.

• There was a significant correlation found between BLL and lead in DCC screenings.

• Children’s exposure to lead in DCC environments appeared to be relevant.

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Leroux, I.N., Ferreira, A.P.S.d., Silva, J.P.d. et al. Lead exposure from households and school settings: influence of diet on blood lead levels. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 31535–31542 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3114-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3114-8

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