Blood lead levels and poor school performance among children in Mexico City

Leal-Escalante, C.R.; Baltazar-Reyes, M.C.; Lino-González, M.; Palazuelos-Rendón, E.; Meneses-González, F.; Leal-Escalante, C.R; Baltazar-Reyes, M.C; Lino-González, M; Palazuelos-Rendón, E; Meneses-González, F

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Blood lead levels and poor school performance among children in Mexico City

Leal-Escalante, C.R.; Baltazar-Reyes, M.C.; Lino-González, M.; Palazuelos-Rendón, E.; Meneses-González, F.

Gaceta Medica de Mexico 143(5): 377-381

2007

ISSN/ISBN: 0016-3813

PMID: 18246931

Document Number: 612103

To describe the relationship between blood lead levels (BLL) and poor school performance. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 1996 among 792 schoolchildren aged 7-14 years, who attended the outpatient units of five pediatric hospitals of Mexico City. BLL was measured together with lead exposure and academic performance. Reported BLL and geometric means (GM) were 8.6 microg/dL and 7.7 microg/dL, respectively. The main source of exposure was the use of glazed pottery (difference of use =-1.182; p = 0.000). Among schoolchildren who failed any school year, GM of the BLL was 8.1 microg/dL, compared with children who did not fail (GM = 7.6 microg/dL; p = 0.240). The risk of failing a school year between the 1st and 3rd grade with a BLL greater than 10 microg/dL was 1.73 (p = 0.012, IC 95% 1.13-2.66) and from 1st to 4th grade was 1.62 (p = 0.021, IC 95% 1.07-2.46). Blood lead levels, among other conditions, may contribute to the failure in school performance observed in the children participating in this study.