The current status of lead poisoning in children

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Abstract
Introduction: In 1964, Moncrieff et al. recorded a normal range for the level of lead in blood as 24 μg%±4·9 μg%, with an upper limit of normal of 36 μg%. There has been discussion ever since as to the level of blood lead which denotes poisoning. A blood lead level of 80 μg% was designated as a toxic level for children, requiring urgent and immediate treatment (U.S. Surgeon General, 1971). Barltrop (1971) presumed that 60 μg% was an acceptable level below which symptoms did not occur. The Department of Public Health of Massachusetts (1973) took 50 μg% as their upper limit of acceptability. More recently, Betts, Astley and Raine (1973) have shown a significant correlation between haemoglobin levels and blood lead concentrations in the range 37–60 μg%; levels which were previously accepted as harmless.

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