Lead In Toys - New Studies Help Prove Damages

There has been a spate of recent recalls of toys and other children's products due to high lead levels. Two recent studies provide new proof of the danger in lead exposure during childhood. The studies, and a commentary by David C. Bellinger of Harvard Medical School, can be read in the May 27, 2008 edition of PLoS Medicine, and can be seen at http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050115
The studies used data collected in poor neighborhoods in Cincinnati beginning in 1979. Blood samples from pregnant mothers and their children were tested for lead levels over several years, and then the children were followed into early adulthood. The first study evaluated brain size in the young adults, and concluded that higher childhood lead levels could be correlated with smaller brain size. The second found that as childhood lead level increased, total arrests and arrests for violent crime also increased. The brain size study is the first to use brain imaging technology to show the harm associated with lead poisoning. Both studies may be helpful in proving damages in lead exposure cases.