Lead levels of new solvent-based household paints in Zimbabwe and Botswana: A preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Lead paint remains a major potential source of lead poisoning globally, but there has been no documentation on lead content in solvent paints available on the markets in Zimbabwe and Botswana. AIM: To determine the lead content of solvent-based paints available on the market in Zimbabwe and Botswana and identify a need for a larger study to inform policy. METHODS: This pilot study was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Gaborone, Botswana. Popular brands of solvent-based household paints were bought from hardware shops in Harare (10 samples) and Gaborone (19 samples). Samples were analysed for lead content using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. RESULTS: Seventy percent of samples from Zimbabwe were found to contain lead above 90 parts per million (ppm), the recommended regulatory limit, with ranges from less than 60 ppm to 12 000 ppm. Twenty percent of Zimbabwean samples had lead levels above 10 000 ppm. No samples from Botswana had lead concentration above the detection limit, with all levels below 100 ppm. LESSON LEARNT: Data strongly suggest very high lead content in popular brands of solvent paints in Zimbabwe, indicating a need for a larger, well-designed study for policy direction.

Metabolic gestational age assessment in low resource settings: a validation protocol.

Preterm birth is the leading global cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Reliable gestational age estimates are useful for quantifying population burdens of preterm birth and informing allocation of resources to address the problem. However, evaluating gestational age in low-resource settings can be challenging, particularly in places where access to ultrasound is limited. Our group has developed an algorithm using newborn screening analyte values derived from dried blood spots from newborns born in Ontario, Canada for estimating gestational age within one to two weeks. The primary objective of this study is to validate a program that derives gestational age estimates from dried blood spot samples (heel-prick or cord blood) collected from health and demographic surveillance sites and population representative health facilities in low-resource settings in Zambia, Kenya, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. We will also pilot the use of an algorithm to identify birth percentiles based on gestational age estimates and weight to identify small for gestational age infants. Once collected from local sites, samples will be tested by the Newborn Screening Ontario laboratory at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa, Canada. Analyte values will be obtained through laboratory analysis for estimation of gestational age as well as screening for other diseases routinely conducted at Ontario's newborn screening program. For select conditions, abnormal screening results will be reported back to the sites in real time to facilitate counseling and future clinical management. We will determine the accuracy of our existing algorithm for estimation of gestational age in these newborn samples. Results from this research hold the potential to create a feasible method to assess gestational age at birth in low- and middle-income countries where reliable estimation may be otherwise unavailable.