Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Lead in Relation to Infant Development: A Review.

摘要

The report reviewed and evaluated the evidence concerning lead (7439921) exposure and infant development from prospective studies in Boston, Cincinnati and Cleveland in the United States as well as in Port Pirie, Australia; Kosovo, Yugoslavia; and Christchurch, New Zealand. The Boston and Cincinnati studies both found deficits in visual/motor skills in relation to prenatal and neonatal lead burdens. In the Port Pirie cohort the primary source of lead exposure was a smelter located upwind of the city. Blood lead levels of 8.3 micrograms/deciliter (microg/dl) prenatally and 2.1 microg/dl in the postnatal period were determined in the mostly middle class population. Beginning at age 2 the blood lead levels were related to measurable deficits in the developmental assessment at age 4, primarily in nonverbal skills. The Yugoslavian population was also residing near a lead smelter and demonstrated a mean of 17.1 microg/dl prenatally and 35.5 microg/dl in the postnatal period. Deficits were found in development at age 2 for prenatal as well as in postnatal blood lead. Each of the studied populations revealed that lead exposures sufficient to produce body burdens on the order of 10 microg/dl in blood, either prenatally or postnatally, caused small reductions in infant and child cognitive ability as estimated by IQ tests.