Predictors of Tooth-lead level with Special Reference to Traffic

by Troels Lyngbye, Ole N. Hansen and Philippe Grandjean

A study of lead-exposure in children

Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1700966

Summary: Possible predictors of the lead burden of children were investigated in a low-exposure area. A total of 1,302 school children in the first form within the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark, donated deciduous teeth for determination of the lead concentration in the circumpulpal dentin. The families were interviewed in possible sources of lead. Present and former addresses of residences and day-care institutions were obtained, and the traffic intensity was estimated at each of these addresses. Children with a high lead burden resided significantly more often in heavily travelled streets than children with a low burden, but only during their first 3 years of life. The increased risk for a high lead burden was related to the traffic intensity in a dose-response manner.