THE FREMANTLE LEAD STUDY

Objective: To ascertain blood lead levels in a sample of preschool children from Fremantle, Western Australia, and to correlate these with possible risk factors. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional prevalence survey of 120 children from day-care centres and 44 hospital inpatients. Blood lead and ferritin levels were determined and a risk factor questionnaire was completed by parents. Results: Of the 164 children 25.6% had lead levels above the NH&MRC goal (<10 mu g/dl). Nine of 133 (6.7%) had ferritin levels below 10 mu g/L suggesting iron deficiency. Excessive blood lead concentrations as defined by the NH&MRC (>9 mu g/dL) related to: child's presence during house renovation (OR 3.35, P = 0.007, 95% CI 1.39-8.81); Aboriginality (OR 6.4, P = 0.008, 95% CI 1.6-24.9), and, in the 9-24 month age group, inversely to distance between home and a road carrying >7000 vehicles/day (r-0.56, P = 0.009, n = 24) Conclusions: A group of Fremantle children with unacceptably high blood lead levels has been identified. Renovation of older housing and Aboriginality are important risk factors.