Evaluation of the lead Decontamination programme in the leading smelting town of port Pirie (South Australia)

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Abstract
An evaluation of the first five years of the Lead Decontamination Programme in the smelter city of Port Pirie, South Australia, is presented. Following a survey of primary school children in 1982, which showed that a substantial proportion had blood lead levels above 30 μg d1‐1, a Lead Decontamination Programme was established in 1984. Blood lead data were available from routine tests offered at six monthly intervals and from the contemporaneous Port Pirie Cohort Study of neurological impairment. These indicate a reduction in blood levels of approximately 20% after the establishment of the Programme with the proportion of children with levels at or above 25 μg d1‐1approximately halved. In particular, a marked reduction was seen in the levels of children whose homes have been decontaminated. While the evaluation was limited to the use of existing data with no comparison group, it is inferred that these reductions are, at least in part, a result of the Lead Decontamination Programme.