The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Foshan, 528200, China; China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, 100022, China.
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
Environ Pollut. 2022 Jan 15;293:118504. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118504. Epub 2021 Nov 15.
Children's exposure to lead is a global health problem, especially in low- and middle-income countries. However, research on the relationship between children's blood lead levels (BLLs) and the development of the lead industry is still limited. This study examined whether children's BLLs were associated with the development of lead industry in different regions. Using survey data on the BLLs of children living in 250 prefectures in China with corresponding data on their economic factors and lead industries, we explored the regional variation of children's BLLs using statistical methods. The results show that the level of economic development in leaded areas was associated with inequity in children's BLLs and met the environmental Kuznets hypothesis. In areas without lead industries, there was little correlation between the level of economic development and the BLLs of children and thus the environmental Kuznets hypothesis was not supported. Lead mines, lead smelting and chemical companies are major sources of blood lead in children living in leaded areas. This study demonstrated the success of control policies for lead-acid battery manufacturers in promoting the prevention and control of childhood lead poisoning in China. China should consciously support the improvement of children's BLLs in undeveloped areas with lead industries through national financing and policies to avoid the continuous effects of the regional inequality problem of high children's BLLs.
儿童铅暴露是一个全球性的健康问题，特别是在中低收入国家。然而，关于儿童血铅水平（BLL）与铅工业发展之间关系的研究仍然有限。本研究旨在探讨儿童的 BLL 是否与不同地区铅工业的发展有关。研究人员利用中国 250 个地级市儿童 BLL 的调查数据和相应的经济因素及铅工业数据，采用统计方法探讨了儿童 BLL 的区域差异。结果表明，铅污染地区的经济发展水平与儿童 BLL 的不平等有关，符合环境库兹涅茨假说。在没有铅工业的地区，经济发展水平与儿童的 BLL 之间几乎没有相关性，因此不支持环境库兹涅茨假说。铅矿、铅冶炼和化工企业是生活在铅污染地区儿童血铅的主要来源。本研究证明了中国对铅酸电池制造商的控制政策在促进儿童铅中毒防治方面的成功。中国应通过国家融资和政策有意识地支持有铅工业的欠发达地区提高儿童 BLL，以避免儿童 BLL 区域不平等问题的持续影响。
