Reduction in Blood Lead Concentration in Children across the Republic of Georgia following Interventions to Address Widespread Exceedance of Reference Value in 2019.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 18(22)2021 11 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34831657
ABSTRACT
In recent years, reports of lead contamination have dramatically increased in Georgia. Given concerns about the exposure of children to lead (Pb), the National Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS-2018) included a blood sampling component. The results showed that 41% of the children that participated had blood Pb levels (BLL) ≥ 5 µg/dL and that BLL in children living in Western Georgia were higher than those in Eastern regions. In response to these findings, NCDC implemented written and verbal advice to the families of children who participated in the MICS-2018 on how to reduce Pb exposure. From August 2019 onwards, the state program of clinical follow-up was implemented. The design of this study was a longitudinal study. The intervention of interest was the public health advice and medical follow-up, and the outcome was defined as the difference in BLL between the MICS-2018 survey and the state program follow-up. We observed a significant overall reduction in median BLL between MICS-2018 and state program follow-up in both August 2019 and the latest results (until December 2019). However, we did not observe any significant further reduction between August and the most recent BLL results. In the Georgian setting, written and verbal communication targeting individual households, alongside home visits to the most exposed, effectively reduced BLL in children.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Chumbo
/
Intoxicação por Chumbo
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Child
/
Humans
País como assunto:
America do norte
/
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article