[A study on relationship between blood lead level and physical growth and development of babies and young children in Shanghai].
OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of low level lead exposure on physical growth and development in young children. METHODS: Blood lead level and indicators for physical growth and development, such as body height and weight, and head and chest circumferences were measured in randomly sampled 1,969 children aged 1 - 6 years in Shanghai. Z scores for these indicators were calculated for each of them based on their age and sex-specific norms for children in urban and suburban Shanghai. And, regression analysis of blood lead level was conducted on them. RESULTS: Geometric mean of blood lead level was 0.400 micromol/L in young children of Shanghai, and 744 (37.8%) of 1,969 children were equal to or higher than 0.483 micromol/L. Geometric mean of blood lead level correlated in reverse to the Z scores for their body height, weight and head circumference, even if adjusted for the potential confounding factors. CONCLUSION: Low level lead exposure could cause adverse effects on their physical growth and development in young children of Shanghai.