Blood Lead Concentrations of Children in the United States: A Comparison of States Using Two Very Large Databases

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether there are substantial differences by state between 2 large datasets in the proportion of children with elevated blood lead levels (BLLs); to identify states in which the percentage of elevated BLLs is high in either or both datasets; and to compare the percentage of elevated BLLs in individual states with those of children living in Flint, Michigan, during the months when these children were exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water.

Study design: Tables of BLLs for individual states from the Quest Diagnostics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention datasets for 2014-2015, containing more than 3 million BLLs of young children?<?6 years old, were constructed to compare the Quest Diagnostics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data with one another and with BLLs available for Flint children for 2014-2015.

Results: For some states, the percentages of BLLs ?5.0?µg/dL are similar in the 2 datasets, whereas for other states, the datasets differ substantially in the percentage of BLLs ?5.0?µg/dL. The percentage of BLLs ?5.0?µg/dL is greater in some states in both datasets than observed in Flint when children were exposed to contaminated water.

Conclusion: The data presented in this study can be a resource for pediatricians and public health professionals involved in the design of state programs to reduce lead exposure (primary prevention) and identify children with elevated BLLs (secondary prevention).

Keywords: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Flint; Michigan; Quest Diagnostics; blood lead levels; children; lead.