Résumé :
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[BDSP. Notice produite par INIST MYR0xmOd. Diffusion soumise à autorisation]. A number of human health effects from lead are well known. However, the means for reducing lead exposure in children has been a subject of uncertainty. This paper presents results of a retrospective study of educational lead reduction interventions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for children who had elevated blood lead levels between 20 and 24 mug/dl. The study examined Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) records of baseline and follow-up blood lead measurements. A study group of children received an in-home educational visit by an MHD paraprofessional. The educational visits last about an hour and the importance of reducing lead exposure, nutritional suggestions, and dust clean-up practices and behavioral changes that can reduce lead exposure are discussed. After the intervention, the average observed blood lead level (n=187) declined by 4.2 mug/dl or by about 21%. A decline of 1.2 mug/dl (6%) was also observed in a reference group of 226 children who did not receive an MHD in-home visit. The decline in the reference group may be partially due to education at the clinics taking the blood samples. The study group had a decline in blood lead levels 3.1 mug/dl (15%) greater than the reference group, with the difference between groups being statistically significant with a P value of less than 0.001. Although significant exposures remained in most of the children studied, important lead reductions were observed with this relatively inexpensive and simple intervention. (...)
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