Lead Intoxication in Children Adopted from China

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Lead Intoxication in Children
Adopted from China
JE Aronson, AM Smith, M Alonso, V Kothari Department of Pediatrics
Winthrop-University Hospital, Mineola, NY 11501

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Background
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 3,637 children were adopted from China in 1997. China has no environmental protection laws. Lead-containing gasoline, coal burning, smelting factories, and lead-containing paints are responsible for most of the lead contamination
of the air, water, soil, and food in China.

Objective
This study was performed to assess the prevalence of lead intoxication in children adopted from China. Design/Methods Retrospective chart review from 1994 to 1998.

Results
One hundred and eighty-four adopted Chinese girls were tested for lead by venous phlebotomy within two weeks of arrival in the United States in an ambulatory pediatric setting. The ages range from four months to forty-three months. The mean age was fifteen and one half months. Using CDC guidelines for lead intoxication, one hundred and sixty-three children (88.6%) had lead levels in the range 0-9. Twenty-one (11.4%) children had lead levels greater than nine. Eleven (6.0%) children had lead levels in the 10-14 range. Six (3.3%) children had lead levels in the 15-19 range. Four (2.1%) children had lead levels in the 25-54 range. A 14 month old Chinese girl with a lead level of forty-seven was treated with Chemet for 19 days. Thirteen months after treatment the lead level was twenty-four.

Conclusions
As lead intoxication in children significantly decreases in the United States, there may be a lessening awareness of the threat of lead. It is imperative that pediatricians know that children adopted from China are at risk for lead intoxication and that they should be screened during their initial health assessments.