| Exposure of U.S. Children to Residential Dust Lead, 1999–2004:
II. The Contribution of Lead-Contaminated Dust to Children's Blood Lead Levels Sherry L. Dixon,1 Joanna M. Gaitens,2 David E. Jacobs,1 Warren Strauss,3 Jyothi Nagaraja,3 Tim Pivetz,3 Jonathan W. Wilson,1 and Peter J. Ashley4 1National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, Maryland, USA; 2 Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc., Columbia, Maryland, USA; 3Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio, USA; 4U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC, USA Abstract
Background: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected health, housing, and environmental data in a single integrated national survey for the first time in the United States in 1999–2004. Objectives: We aimed to determine how floor dust lead (PbD) loadings and other housing factors influence childhood blood lead (PbB) levels and lead poisoning. Methods: We analyzed data from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) , including 2,155 children 12–60 months of age with PbB and PbD measurements. We used linear and logistic regression models to predict log-transformed PbB and the odds that PbB was ≥ 5 and ≥ 10 µg/dL at a range of floor PbD. Results: The population-weighted geometric mean (GM) PbB was 2.0 µg/dL (geometric standard error = 1.0) . Age of child, race/ethnicity, serum cotinine concentration, poverty-to-income ratio, country of birth, year of building construction, floor PbD by floor surface and condition, windowsill PbD, presence of deteriorated paint, home-apartment type, smoking in the home, and recent renovation were significant predictors in either the linear model [the proportion of variability in the dependent variable accounted for by the model (R2) = 40%] or logistic model for 10 µg/dL (R2 = 5%) . At floor PbD = 12 µg/ft2, the models predict that 4.6% of children living in homes constructed before 1978 have PbB ≥ 10 µg/dL, 27% have PbB ≥ 5 µg/dL, and the GM PbB is 3.9 µg/dL. Conclusions: Lowering the floor PbD standard below the current standard of 40 µg/ft2 would protect more children from elevated PbB. Key words: blood lead, dust lead, housing, lead poisoning, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NHANES. Environ Health Perspect 117:468–474 (2009) . doi:10.1289/ehp.11918 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 14 November 2008]
Address correspondence to S.L. Dixon, National Center for Healthy Housing, 10320 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 500, Columbia, MD 21044 USA. Telephone: (443) 539-4156. Fax: (443) 539-4150. E-mail: sdixon@nchh.org We thank R. Kaufman, D. Brody, and M.J. Brown of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their work developing the lead-related NHANES survey questions. The U.S. Department of the Housing and Urban Development funded this project under contract C-PHI-00931. The opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. government. D.E.J. is paid as director of research at the National Center for Healthy Housing, a nonprofit agency dedicated to decreasing children's exposure to hazards in the home. The other authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 10 July 2008 ; accepted 13 November 2008.
Correction The values given in the first sentence of "Results" were incorrect in the original manuscript published online. They have been corrected here.
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