Children with increased but """"""""subtoxic"""""""" lead exposure appear to be at increased risk of cognitive and perceptual dysfunction, and lowered scores on individually administered neuropsychologic tests. To assess whether these indicators of dysfunction precede or follow lead exposure, we designed and initiated our Prenatal Lead Exposure Study (which we now call our """"""""intensive"""""""" follow up study). We began by measuring the lead level in umbilical cord blood from 11,837 births at one hospital. This enabled us to identify and then follow a total of 249 children divided among the highest lead levels, those with the lowest lead levels, and those whose lead levels approximated the 50th percentile. During the first year these umbilical cord blood specimens were obtained, other investigators (conducting a separate study) interviewed all of these women about demographic, lifestyle, and pregnancy characteristics. These 4,354 children, whose umbilical cord blood lead level has been measured, and whose mothers were interviewed at the time of delivery are viewed as a unique resource for a study of the relationships between pre- and postnatal lead exposure and dysfunction at school age. Children born to most of these women have received birthday cards from us at ages 3, 4 and 5 years. This proposal requests funds to enable us to continue to follow these children, collecting a deciduous tooth from each (in order to estimate cumulative postnatal lead exposure), and to collect an updated questionnaire from the mother, and a performance-in-school questionnaire from each child's teacher at the end of the school year in which the child is 8 years old. Collecting these additional data from this unique sample will allow us to achieve the two aims of A) determining the relative contributions of exposures to lead prenatally and postnatally to behavioral, cognitive, and perceptual dysfunction recognized by teachers when the children are aged 8 years, and B) determining the umbilical cord blood and tooth lead levels associated with dysfunction in school at that age. This study has been designed to complement the """"""""intensive"""""""" follow up study of the 249 babies selected from this same sample.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01HD020381-01
Application #
3318409
Study Section
Epidemiology and Disease Control Subcommittee 3 (EDC)
Project Start
1985-07-01
Project End
1990-06-30
Budget Start
1985-07-01
Budget End
1986-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1985
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Children's Hospital Boston
Department
Type
DUNS #
076593722
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
Leviton, A; Bellinger, D; Pagano, M et al. (1995) Models of delayed recovery. J Child Neurol 10:385-91
Leviton, A; Needleman, H; Bellinger, D et al. (1994) Children with hypoplastic enamel defects of primary incisors are not at increased risk of learning-problem syndromes. ASDC J Dent Child 61:35-8
Bellinger, D; Leviton, A; Allred, E et al. (1994) Pre- and postnatal lead exposure and behavior problems in school-aged children. Environ Res 66:12-30
Rabinowitz, M B; Leviton, A; Bellinger, D (1993) Relationships between serial blood lead levels and exfoliated tooth dentin lead levels: models of tooth lead kinetics. Calcif Tissue Int 53:338-41
Leviton, A; Bellinger, D; Allred, E N et al. (1993) Pre- and postnatal low-level lead exposure and children's dysfunction in school. Environ Res 60:30-43
Leviton, A; Bellinger, D; Allred, E (1993) The Boston Teacher Questionnaire. 3. A reassessment. J Child Neurol 8:64-72
Conaway, M R; Waternaux, C; Allred, E et al. (1992) Pre-natal blood lead levels and learning difficulties in children: an analysis of non-randomly missing categorical data. Stat Med 11:799-811
Bellinger, D; Leviton, A; Rabinowitz, M et al. (1991) Weight gain and maturity in fetuses exposed to low levels of lead. Environ Res 54:151-8
Bellinger, D; Sloman, J; Leviton, A et al. (1991) Low-level lead exposure and children's cognitive function in the preschool years. Pediatrics 87:219-27
Bellinger, D; Leviton, A; Sloman, J (1990) Antecedents and correlates of improved cognitive performance in children exposed in utero to low levels of lead. Environ Health Perspect 89:5-11

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