Blood Lead Levels of Children in Rural Areas of China / 环境与健康杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate Chinese rural children's blood lead levels (BLLs) and identify its distribution features and to provide data for policy development to the prevention of rural environmental lead pollution. Methods The papers on rural children's BLLs published from 1994 to Oct, 2008 were collected by using CNKI's (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) Chinese Journal Full-test Database and other ways. The papers which were eligible for the following criteria were reviewed(1) BLLs measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy (graphite or others) or inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry; (2) strict quality control; (3) no local lead pollution sources in the areas where the screened subjects live in; (4) children aged from 0 to 14 years old; (5)sample size more than 40. Results Analysis on the included 32 papers indicated that, the mean BLLs of Chinese rural children between 1994 and 2008 was 74.93 ?g/L ( range41.14-193.54 ?g/L)and 19.32%( range2.2%-43%) of the subjects had BLLs higher than 100 ?g/L. The rural children’s BLLs changed from 87.53 ?g/L to 71.16 ?g/L after the use of lead free gasoline in 2000 in China, which were both lower than the general children's BBLs before 2000 and after 2001. The children in Beijing city and Shandong province showed the highest mean BLLs , with 99.16 ?g/L and 92.13 ?g/L respectively; while the children in Jilin province and Hebei province showed the lowest levels, with 41.14 ?g/L and 56.14 ?g/L respectively. The comprehensive analysis of 18 papers indicated that the mean BLLs in rural areas and urban areas were 77.90 ?g/L and 87.24 ?g/L respectively ( u=3.73, P