von Schirnding Y, Bradshaw D, Fuggle R, Stokol M
Research Institute for Environmental Diseases, Medical Research Council, South Africa.
Environ Health Perspect. 1991 Aug;94:125-30. doi: 10.1289/ehp.94-1567937.
Little is known about childhood lead absorption in South Africa. In this study a cross-sectional analytic survey was carried out to determine the blood lead levels and associated risk factors for inner-city, first-grade schoolchildren. Blood lead analyses, hematological and anthropometric measurements were conducted, and a pretested questionnaire was administered to parents to identify risk factors for lead exposure. In a detailed environmental study, daily air and dust samples were collected over a period of 1 year from several sites in the study area, contemporaneously with the blood and questionnaire surveys. Spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric lead were determined. It was found that 13% of mixed race children, but no white children, had blood lead levels greater than or equal to 25 micrograms/dL, the U.S. action level. Air lead levels averaged around 1 microgram/m3, and dust lead levels ranged from 410 to 3620 ppm. Environmental lead levels were significantly elevated near heavy traffic, where Environmental Protection Agency standards were exceeded mainly during winter months. Baseline exposure was of significance in influencing blood lead levels of children attending schools in direct proximity to heavy traffic, where blood lead levels were elevated irrespective of other influencing factors. Primary and secondary preventive measures are urgently needed in South Africa to reduce environmental lead exposure. At the time of the study, South Africa had one of the highest levels of lead in gasoline in the Western World, namely, 0.836 g/L. Although levels have subsequently been reduced, this is typical of the situation in many African countries today.
关于南非儿童铅吸收情况，人们知之甚少。在本研究中，开展了一项横断面分析调查，以确定市中心一年级学童的血铅水平及相关风险因素。进行了血铅分析、血液学和人体测量，并向家长发放了经过预测试的问卷，以确定铅暴露的风险因素。在一项详细的环境研究中，在为期1年的时间里，从研究区域的多个地点采集了每日空气和灰尘样本，与血液和问卷调查同步进行。确定了大气铅的时空变化。结果发现，13%的混血儿童血铅水平大于或等于25微克/分升（美国行动水平），但白人儿童中没有。空气中铅水平平均约为1微克/立方米，灰尘中铅水平在410至3620 ppm之间。在交通繁忙地区附近，环境铅水平显著升高，主要在冬季超过了美国环境保护局的标准。基线暴露对直接靠近交通繁忙地区上学的儿童的血铅水平有显著影响，无论其他影响因素如何，这些地区的血铅水平都有所升高。南非迫切需要采取一级和二级预防措施，以减少环境铅暴露。在研究期间，南非汽油中的铅含量在西方世界中处于最高水平之一，即0.836克/升。尽管此后含量有所降低，但这是当今许多非洲国家的典型情况。
