11^th World Pediatric Congress

Objective: Lead poisoning is usually unrecognized in children because most of the symptoms are nonspecific.This is while it impacts on pediatrics growth and development. This study determined BLL(blood lead level) and some of lead sources among children. Methods: One-hundred patients visited in general pediatric clinic in Loghman Hakim Hospital, Tehran, Iran were entered prospectively in a cross-sectional study. Age, weight, height, cause of reference, parents’ job and education, history of lead toxicity in the family, family opium abuse history, living in industrial areas, building age and water pipe type, pica habit, playing in industrial areas and toy types, using calcium and iron supplements as well as cooking dishes were documented for each individual. Hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were documented for those who had available lab data. Blood lead level was measured using Lead Care II with ability to check blood lead from 3.3 to 65 μg/dL.

Results: In these study 25% of children had BLL(blood lead level)more than 5 μg/dL and 8% of them had BLL more than 10 μg/dL .the highest BLL was 45 μg/dL .The parents had mainly low socioeconomic status with 56% of fathers were workers and 91% of mothers were housewives. The mean age of children was 60 months [19, 96] with minimum age of 4 days and maximum of 12 years. There was a significant univariate correlation between residential area (industrial vs. non-industrial)and growth curve in both blood lead cut-off levels of 5 and 10 μgr/dL. There is no significant meaning in Hb ,MCV between low and high lead level groups.

Conclusion: We should consider lead poisoning in pediatrics who are short-stature. Also recently lead- contaminated opium is one of main lead sources in some countries like Iran.