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Danna Kurtin,¹ Bradford L. Therrell, Jr.,² and Patti Patterson³

¹School of Public Health, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77225 USA; ²Chemical Services Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Texas Department of Health; Austin, TX, 78756 USA; ³Bureau of Women & Children, Texas Department of Health, Austin, TX 78756 USA

Abstract
This is the first large population-based study of demographic risk factors for elevated lead in Texas children. It summarizes data on 92,900 children covered by Medicaid screened for blood lead during the first 6 months of 1993 in Texas. The highest percentage of elevated lead levels (14.3%) was in children 25-36 months of age, with slightly lower percentages in those younger (13% of 19-24 months) and older (12% of 37-48 months) with blood lead levels greater than 10 g/dl. The group with the highest percentage of elevated blood lead levels was 2-4-year-old African American males (17.3%) , making this subgroup 3.5 times higher than the group with the lowest percentage--white girls over age 4 (4.8%) . Males had higher blood lead levels for all ages and ethnic groups. Three principal risk factors were found for excessive blood lead in children: ethnicity, gender, and age ; this is consistent with the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) and Phase I of the NHANES III results demonstrating ethnicity and income association with lead in children in the United States. Key words: blood studies, children, lead, Medicaid, risk, Texas. Environ Health Perspect 105:66-68 (1997)

Address correspondence to D. Kurtin, Management and Policy Sciences Discipline, School of Public Health, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, P.O. Box 20186, Rm 304, Houston, TX 77225 USA.

We gratefully acknowledge Carl S. Hacker and George R. Kerr for their assistance.

Received 26 July 1996 ; accepted 21 October 1996.