Impacts of low-level lead exposure on development of children: recent studies in China.

BACKGROUND In China, comprehensive epidemiological data relating to the prevalence of childhood lead poisoning are not available. However, existing data suggest that this disease may be widely pervasive as a result of rapid industrialization and the extensive use of leaded gasoline. About twenty publications have reported elevated blood lead levels (BPb) in children from different areas of the country. For the past 5 years, several prospective and retrospective studies have been added to evaluate the harmful health effects of lead at the current degrees of exposure in different places in China. The link between low-level lead exposure and deficits in IQ, neurobehavioral development and physical growth is remarkably consistent without exception. CONCLUSIONS The harmful health effects of childhood lead poisoning in limited studies of exposed and "unexposed" children demonstrate that this totally preventable disease warrants considerable public health attention in China.