The adverse effects of lead exposure on children's health have been widely investigated. Physical growth is a central indicator of health in early childhood. However, studies on the associations between lead exposure and the physical growth of young children are still equivocal. This study aimed to investigate the effects of lead exposure on young children's growth. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, and a total of 1678 young children were recruited. Blood lead levels were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry and anthropometric measurements were obtained by nurses. The weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ), height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) and BMI for-age Z-score (BMIZ) of the children were calculated according to World Health Organization standards. Multivariable linear models after adjustment for potential confounders were used to evaluate the associations between lead exposure and childhood anthropometric characteristics. Meanwhile, the sex differences in these associations were also examined. The median blood lead levels in total subjects, in boys and in girls were 46.44, 49.00 and 43.27 μg/L, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, a significantly negative association of blood lead levels with WAZ and HAZ was observed. After stratification by sex, the blood lead levels in children were negatively associated with WAZ and HAZ in boys but not in girls. Meanwhile, we further provide evidence that blood lead levels below 50 μg/L may also have adverse effects on young children's HAZ. Our findings suggest that lead exposure may have sex-specific effects on physical growth in young children and that blood lead level in a low levels may also have adverse effects on children's physical growth and development.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126294DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

lead exposure
24
blood lead
24
lead levels
20
young children
16
physical growth
16
lead
12
effects lead
12
adverse effects
12
sex differences
8
growth development
8

Similar Publications

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection can lead to various outcomes, including active tuberculosis or latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Household contacts of TB cases have a high risk of acquiring LTBI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ultraportable (UP) X-ray devices are ideal to use in community-based settings, particularly for chest X-ray (CXR) screening of tuberculosis (TB). Unfortunately, there is insufficient guidance on the radiation safety of these devices. This study aims to determine the radiation dose by UP X-ray devices to both the public and radiographers compared to international dose limits.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aquatic toxicology, as a result of industrial and agrieqcultural effluences, has become a global concern impacting not only the well-being of aquatic organisms but human health as well. The current study evaluated the impact of four toxic trace elements (TTEs) Cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni) in three organs (liver, gills, and muscles) of five fish species viz, Rita rita, Sperata sarwari, Wallago attu, Mastacembelus armatus, and Cirrhinus mrigala collected from right and left banks of Punjnad headworks during winter, spring, and summer. We investigated the accumulation (mg/kg) of these TTEs in fish in addition to the human health risk assessment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previous research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed alterations in behaviors that may impact exposures to environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This includes changes in the use of chemicals found in consumer products, food packaging, and exposure to air pollutants. Within the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, a national consortium initiated to understand the effects of environmental exposures on child health and development, our objective was to assess whether urinary concentrations of a wide range of potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals varied before and during the pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Distributed lag models (DLMs) estimate the health effects of exposure over multiple time lags prior to the outcome and are widely used in time series studies. Applying DLMs to retrospective cohort studies is challenging due to inconsistent lengths of exposure history across participants, which is common when using electronic health record databases. A standard approach is to define subcohorts of individuals with some minimum exposure history, but this limits power and may amplify selection bias.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!