The Relationship Between Blood Lead, Bone Lead and Child Intelligence

• Published in: Child neuropsychology Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 22 - 34
• Main Authors: Wasserman, Gail A., Factor-Litvak, Pam, Liu, Xinhua, Todd, Andrew C., Kline, Jennie K., Slavkovich, Vesna, Popovac, Dusan, Graziano, Joseph H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Group 01.03.2003
• Subjects: Bone and Bones - chemistry; Bone and Bones - drug effects; Child; Child Development - drug effects; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Female; Humans; Intelligence - drug effects; Intelligence Tests; Lead - adverse effects; Lead - analysis; Lead - blood; Male; Prospective Studies; Task Performance and Analysis
• ISSN: 0929-7049; 1744-4136
• DOI: 10.1076/chin.9.1.22.14497

We report associations between serial measures of blood lead and intelligence in children age 10-12 years, half heavily exposed to lead from the prenatal period onward, and half relatively unexposed. For a subsample, we examine bone lead-IQ associations, comparing them with blood lead associations. Both blood and bone lead levels were associated with intelligence decrements, small relative to the contribution of social factors. For each doubling of Tib-Pb, Full Scale, Performance, and Verbal IQ decreased by an estimated 5.5, 6.2, and 4.1 points, respectively. Bone lead-IQ associations were stronger than those for blood lead, which nonetheless provide robust analogues. Current BPb, easy to obtain, provides a useful means for assessing Pb exposure/IQ associations.