Trends in Elevated Blood Lead Levels Using 5 and 10 µg/dL Levels of Concern Among Refugee Children Resettled in Massachusetts, 1998-2015

Abstract

Objectives: Refugee children are known to have a high prevalence of elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs). We sought to determine trends in EBLLs among refugee children during an 18-year period and examine relationships between descriptive characteristics and EBLLs by using 10 µg/dL and 5 µg/dL levels of concern.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated refugee health screening data from Massachusetts for 1998 through 2015 for refugee children aged <7 years. We performed bivariate and multivariate analyses of variables including sex, age, region of origin, anemia, intestinal parasites, tuberculosis test results, and anthropometric measurements and used both 5 µg/dL and 10 µg/dL levels of concern for EBLLs.

Results: Of 3421 eligible refugee children, 3054 (88.2%) were tested. Using 5 µg/dL and 10 µg/dL levels of concern, 1279 (41.9%) and 241 (7.9%) children, respectively, had EBLLs. Mean BLLs declined steadily from 7.58 µg/dL in 2004 to 4.03 µg/dL in 2015. African (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-3.43), East Asian and Pacific (aOR = 1.98; 95% CI, 1.35-2.91), and South-Central Asian (aOR = 2.47; 95% CI, 1.53-4.01) regions of origin and anemia (aOR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.14 -1.97) were significantly associated with BLLs ≥5 µg/dL.

Conclusions: The prevalence of EBLLs among refugees compared with US-born children is high. Because EBBLs increase the risk for neurocognitive impairment in children, public health professionals, policy makers, researchers, refugee resettlement staff members, and health care providers must remain vigilant in screening for lead poisoning and educating refugees about the hazards posed to young children by lead.

Keywords: anthropometrics; lead poisoning; malnutrition; neurocognitive; refugee health.

Figure.

Trends in proportion of 3054 tested refugee children aged <7 years resettled in Massachusetts with blood lead levels ≥5 µg/dL and ≥10 µg/dL, from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Refugee Health Assessment Program database, 1998-2015. The linear best-fit trend line was calculated automatically by Excel.