Lead Levels in Children Drop Sharply in U.S., New Study Shows

Levels of lead in children from the United States have fallen by 84 percent in the last two decades thanks to aggressive campaigns to remove lead from paint, water, and soil, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, said the percentage of U.S. children with high lead levels in their blood had fallen from 9 percent in 1988 to 1.4 percent in 2004, the latest year for which data was available. The study of 5,000 children, ages 1 to 5, showed that children from lower-income families had higher blood-lead levels than children from more affluent homes, but that racial disparities among children with high blood-lead levels had largely disappeared. Lead levels in U.S. children have been dropping since lead was removed from gasoline in the 1970s and researchers attribute the most recent declines to campaigns to remove lead-based paint in old housing and replace antiquated water pipes containing lead. High lead levels in children can cause a variety of physical and cognitive ailments.