Long-Term Effects of Environmental Lead on Erythropoietin Production in Young Adults: A Follow-Up Study of a Prospective Cohort in Kosovo.

Background And Aims: Epidemiologic cross-sectional studies examining the relationship between environmental lead (Pb) exposure and erythropoietin (EPO) production have reported contrasting results. It is unknown, however, if exposure to Pb earlier in life has an effect on EPO production later in life. Here, using a prospective study, we evaluate the association between prenatal, early childhood, and concurrent Pb exposure and EPO concentration in young adulthood.

Long-Term Effects of Environmental Lead Exposure on Blood Pressure and Plasma Soluble Cell Adhesion Molecules in Young Adults: A Follow-Up Study of a Prospective Cohort in Kosovo.

Background And Aims: Epidemiologic studies examining the relationship between environmental lead (Pb) exposure and blood pressure (BP) generally report small associations between blood lead concentration (BPb) and BP. However, these studies are predominantly cross-sectional. In addition, no epidemiologic studies evaluate associations between either current or past Pb exposure and serum levels of markers of systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, including soluble vascular adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1) and soluble intercellular cell adhesion molecule (sICAM-1).

Blood lead concentration and thyroid function during pregnancy: results from the Yugoslavia Prospective Study of Environmental Lead Exposure.

Background: Although maternal hypothyroidism increases the risk of adverse neonatal and obstetric outcomes as well as lower IQ in children, the environmental determinants of maternal thyroid dysfunction have yet to be fully explored.

Objectives: We aimed to examine associations between mid-pregnancy blood lead (BPb) and concomitant measures of thyroid function among participants in the Yugoslavia Prospective Study of Environmental Lead Exposure.

Methods: As part of a population-based prospective study of two towns in Kosovo-one with high levels of environmental lead and one with low-women were recruited during the second trimester of pregnancy, at which time blood samples and questionnaire data were collected.

The relationship between blood lead, bone lead and child intelligence.

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 bone lead associations. Both blood and bone lead levels were associated with intelligence decrements, small relative to the contribution of social factors.

Tibia lead levels and methodological uncertainty in 12-year-old children.

In vivo bone lead measurements with 109Cd-based K-shell X-ray fluorescence (XRF) have been used to assess long-term lead exposure in adults. Tibia lead levels were measured in 210 children (106 boys, 104 girls) of 11-12(1/2) years of age in a lead smelter town and in a control (nonexposed) town. Tibia lead levels, methodological uncertainties, and models of some of the factors influencing them are presented.