Dietary exposure of lead in primary, middle and high school students in Pudong new area of Shanghai / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To obtain the dietary exposure of lead in primary, middle and high school students, and to provide basic foundation for food safety risk assessment and management for children and adolecsents.@*Methods@#Weighing method, 3-days hour dietary survey, combining with the food frequency questionnaire, was applied to obtain basic dietary data in 616 primary, middle and high school students selected through multi-stage randdom sampling method from Pudong new area of shanghai. Data on lead concentrations were derived from the food safety risk monitoring system, which included 1 145 samples.@*Results@#Lead was detected in 568 of 1 145 samples (49.61%) from 10 categories of foods. The exceeding standard rate was 3.58% (41 samples exceeded). The average content of lead was (0.12±0.25) mg/kg, fungi and algae, beans and the aquatic products were found to be the primary food sources of lead exposure. The average dietary lead exposure in primary, middle and high school students was 9.94 μg/kg per week, accounted for 39.76% of PTWI. The lead exposure level at the 97.5th percentile which accounted for 118.24% of PTWI was 29.56 μg/kg. Vegetables, beans and cereal foods were the mainly source of dietary lead exposure, with average dietary lead exposure 2.57, 2.44 and 1.43 μg/kg peer week, accounted for 10.26%, 9.76% and 5.74% of PTWI, respectively.@*Conclusion@#Lead is present in some foods available in local markets in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. Low level of dietary exposure to lead is found in primary, middle and high school students, however, it depends on dietary pattern. Continued efforts are needed to reduce the dietary exposure of lead in school students.