Birmingham blood lead studies

Hansen, J.C., Christensen, L.B. and Tarp, U. (1980). Hair lead concentration in children with minimal cerebral dysfunction. Dan. Med. Bull, 27, 259-262 Harvey, P., Hamlin, M. and Kumar, R. (1983). The Birmingham blood lead study. Presented at annual conference of the British Psychological Society, symposium on lead and health some psychological data April University of York, United Kingdom. 

Harvey, P.G., Hamlin, M.W. and Kumar, R. (1983). The Birmingham blood lead study. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society, York... 

Most of these studies have shown that blood lead values are invariably increased by exposure, but little or no health hazard has been adduced. This may be due to the fact that minor effects (e.g. behavioural ones), have not usually been investigated. Lansdowne et al. (1974) linked proximity to a lead smelter in London with increase in blood lead levels. There was however no link between lead and any measure of mental capability that was investigated, and any observed differences that were found could be related to social factors. Hebei et al, (1976) compared distance from a Birmingham battery factory with 11-plus examination scores and found that children who lived near the factory since birth scored more than those with a low lead-load or living in unpolluted areas. They also reported that this difference remained when adjustments were made for social class, birth rank and maternal age. 

McBride, W.G. (1984) Prospective study of health effects of lead in urban children. Paper presented at International Conference on Prospective Lead Studies, Cincinnati, Ohio, April McBride, W.G., Black, B.P. and English, B.J. (1982) Blood lead levels and behaviour of 400 preschool children. Med. ]. Australia, 2, 26-29 Mackie, A.C., Stephens, R., Townsend, A. and Waldron, H.A. (1977) Tooth lead levels in Birmingham children. Arch. Environ. Health, 32, 178-185 Mahaffey, K.R., Annest, J.L., Roberts, J. and Murphy, R.S. (1982) National estimates of blood lead levels United States, 1976-1980 association with selected demographic and socioeconomic factors. N. Engl ]. Med., 307, 149-159 Moore, M.R., Campbell, B.C., Meredith, P.A., Beattie, A.D., Goldberg, A. and Campbell, D. 

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