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. 2013 Dec 19:10:E213.
doi: 10.5888/pcd10.130056.

Trends in tobacco smoke exposure and blood lead levels among youths and adults in the United States: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2008

Patricia A Richter  1 , Ellen E Bishop  2 , Jiantong Wang  2 , Rachel Kaufmann  3
Affiliations

Trends in tobacco smoke exposure and blood lead levels among youths and adults in the United States: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2008

Patricia A Richter et al. Prev Chronic Dis. .

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco smoke is a source of exposure to thousands of toxic chemicals including lead, a chemical of longstanding public health concern. We assessed trends in blood lead levels in youths and adults with cotinine-verified tobacco smoke exposure by using 10 years of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Methods: Geometric mean levels of blood lead are presented for increasing levels of tobacco smoke exposure. Regression models for lead included age, race/ethnicity, poverty, survey year, sex, age of home, birth country, and, for adults, alcohol consumption. Lead levels were evaluated for smokers and nonsmokers on the basis of age of residence and occupation.

Results: Positive trend tests indicate that a linear relationship exists between smoke exposure and blood lead levels in youths and adults and that secondhand smoke exposure contributes to blood lead levels above the level caused by smoking.

Conclusion: Youths with secondhand smoke exposure had blood lead levels suggestive of the potential for adverse cognitive outcomes. Despite remediation efforts in housing and the environment and declining smoking rates and secondhand smoke exposure in the United States, tobacco smoke continues to be a substantial source of exposure to lead in vulnerable populations and the population in general.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Blood lead levels in youths with and without exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and in adult smokers and nonsmokers with and without SHS exposure, by categories of age of residence, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1999–2008. [Table: see text]
Figure 2
Figure 2
Blood lead levels among adults aged 19 or older, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), 1999–2008. Participant NHANES occupation codes were matched to industry subsectors identified in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance (ABLES) survey. NHANES job categories that matched ABLES industry subsectors in which adults are found to have BLLs ≥25 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) were categorized as “higher” lead jobs. Other NHANES job categories were categorized as “lower” lead jobs. Participants reporting being unemployed at the time of the survey were assigned to the “currently unemployed” category. [Table: see text]
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References

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