Lead in human bones. Investigations on an occupationally non-exposed population in southern Bavaria (F.R.G.). II. Children.

The concentration of lead in three different bones (pelvic bone, cortical part of the mid-femur, petrous portion of the temporal bone) of 82 children who died in 1984 was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Three age classes were selected: less than 1 year (n = 25); 1-6 years (n = 18); 10-20 years (n = 35). The Pb content of all three types of bone increased steadily with age, and was most pronounced in the temporal bone. The differentiation of the bones with respect to the Pb concentration, as seen in adults, increased from babies (geom. mean, temporal bone 0.33 mg/kg wet wt., femur 0.33, pelvic bone 0.26) to pre-school children (0.62; 0.74; 0.49) and to youths (1.76: 1.18; 0.63). Babies showed no dependence of the Pb concentration in bone on sex. For pre-school children, in all three bones the concentration of Pb in girls was higher, while for youths, the concentration in males exceeded that found in females. In any sub-group the bones from urban children showed on average higher Pb concentrations than those from rural areas. For the mid-femur, and the age class 10-20 years, this difference was statistically significant. No difference was seen in the mean Pb concentration in bones of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and non-SIDS babies, but in the temporal bone the distribution of the Pb concentrations for the SIDS group was significantly greater than that of the control babies.2off