TY - JOUR
T1 - Threshold effect in lead-induced peripheral neuropathy
AU - Schwartz, Joel
AU - Landrigan, Philip J.
AU - Feldman, Robert G.
AU - Silbergeld, Ellen K.
AU - Baker, Edward L.
AU - von Lindern, Ian H.
N1 - Funding Information:
From the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D,C,; the Division of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York; the Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston; the Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta; and Terragraphics, Inc., Moscow, idaho
PY - 1988/1
Y1 - 1988/1
N2 - We previously demonstrated a negative correlation between blood lead level and motor nerve conduction velocity in 202 asymptomatic 5 to 9-year-old children living near a lead smelter in Idaho. Blood lead levels ranged from 13 to 97 μg/dL. To determine whether a threshold exists between blood lead level and maximal motor nerve conduction velocity, we conducted three regression analyses on these data: a "hockey stick" regression, a logistic regression, and a quadratic regression. We found evidence for a threshold in all three analyses: at a blood level of 30 μg/dL in the "hockey stick" regression, at 20 μg/dL in the logistic, and at 25 to 30 μg/dL in the quadratic. Neither age, sex, socioeconomic status, nor duration of residence near the smeiter significantly modified the relationship. These analyses confirm that asymptomatic increased lead absorption causes slowing of nerve conduction, but they also indicate that measurement of maximal motor nerve conduction velocity is an insensitive screen for low-level lead toxicity.
AB - We previously demonstrated a negative correlation between blood lead level and motor nerve conduction velocity in 202 asymptomatic 5 to 9-year-old children living near a lead smelter in Idaho. Blood lead levels ranged from 13 to 97 μg/dL. To determine whether a threshold exists between blood lead level and maximal motor nerve conduction velocity, we conducted three regression analyses on these data: a "hockey stick" regression, a logistic regression, and a quadratic regression. We found evidence for a threshold in all three analyses: at a blood level of 30 μg/dL in the "hockey stick" regression, at 20 μg/dL in the logistic, and at 25 to 30 μg/dL in the quadratic. Neither age, sex, socioeconomic status, nor duration of residence near the smeiter significantly modified the relationship. These analyses confirm that asymptomatic increased lead absorption causes slowing of nerve conduction, but they also indicate that measurement of maximal motor nerve conduction velocity is an insensitive screen for low-level lead toxicity.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0022-3476(88)80111-2
DO - 10.1016/S0022-3476(88)80111-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 2826742
AN - SCOPUS:0023837411
SN - 0022-3476
VL - 112
SP - 12
EP - 17
JO - The Journal of pediatrics
JF - The Journal of pediatrics
IS - 1
ER -