Childhood lead exposure in the palestinian authority, Israel, and Jordan: results from the Middle Eastern regional cooperation project, 1996-2000.

In the Middle East, the major sources of lead exposure have been leaded gasoline, lead-contaminated flour from traditional stone mills, focal exposures from small battery plants and smelters, and kohl (blue color) in cosmetics. In 1998-2000, we measured blood lead (PbB) levels in children 2-6 years of age in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority (n = 1478), using a fingerstick method. Mean (peak; percentage > 10 microg/dL) PbB levels in Israel (n = 317) , the West Bank (n = 344), Jordan (n = 382) , and Gaza (n = 435) were 3.