Lead Exposure Among Children Living in the Poudrette Neighborhood of Pavillons-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis). Results of Lead Poisoning Screening – June 2004. Results of a Study on Lead Exposure Factors Using Methods for Analyzing "Left-Censored Data"

In response to soil contamination detected in the Poudrette neighborhood linked to a former landfill, and based on modeled blood lead levels, access to the contaminated land was restricted; subsequently, a screening program for childhood lead poisoning and a study of lead exposure factors were organized for children living in the neighborhood. Two hundred and four children living or attending school in the neighborhood were screened in June 2004. No child had a blood lead level greater than or equal to 100 μg/L. Blood lead levels were, on average, lower than the results of a survey conducted in the Val d’Oise on a sample of children not selected based on exposure risk. The analysis of exposure factors revealed a relationship between spending time on outdoor lawns in the neighborhood and blood lead levels, whereas attending the school did not influence blood lead levels. Motivated by the high percentage of left-censored data (25% of blood lead levels below the laboratory’s quantification threshold), two analyses were conducted: the first using logistic regression and the second using Tobit regression. In this context, characterized by population exposure to lead present in surface soils, the use of logistic regression—a more common method that does not require testing assumptions about the distribution of blood lead levels—was sufficient to quickly identify practices that promote exposure and guide management measures, despite the loss of information resulting from the division of blood lead levels into two classes. In 2005, further investigations confirmed significant lead contamination of surface soils in the housing units of the neighborhood, as well as the addition of neutral soil beneath the school complex during its construction. This neighborhood is currently the subject of an urban renewal project. (R.A.)

Author(s): Legout C, Mandereau Bruno L

Publishing year: 2009

Pages: 34 p.

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