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The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on November 6, 2009
The European Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckp164
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Lead poisoning among internally displaced Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children in the United Nations-Administered Province of Kosovo*

Mary Jean Brown1, Gerry McWeeney2, Rokho Kim2, Ardita Tahirukaj2, Petar Bulat3, Skender Syla2, Zoran Savic4, Yona Amitai5, Timothy Dignam2 and Dorit Nitzan Kaluski2

1 Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
2 World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark
3 Serbian Institute of Occupational Health, Belgrade, Serbia
4 North Mitrovica, UN Administered Province of Kosovo
5 Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel

Correspondence: Dr Mary Jean Brown, Chief, Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE MS-F60, Atlanta, GA 30348, USA, tel: +1-770-488-3300, fax: +1-770-488-3635, e-mail: mjb5{at}cdc.gov

Received May 28, 2009 , accepted August 20, 2009

Background: This study assessed the association between lead poisoning prevention activities and blood lead levels (BLLs) among children living in lead-contaminated camps for internally displaced persons in the United Nations-Administered Province of Kosovo. Methods: We conducted a population-based study to examine the relationship among geometric mean BLLs in children (i) born before any lead poisoning prevention activities were instituted, (ii) born when specific interim interventions were instituted and (iii) born after relocation and medical therapy were available. The study population consisted of 145 of the 186 children born in the camps between December 1999 and July 2007. Results: Lower mean BLLs were found in children born following implementation of the interventions as compared with the children born before the interventions. However, this decrease in mean BLLs was attenuated in children born into families suspected of informal lead smelting. Conclusion: Despite lower BLLs following interventions, children living in these camps have BLLs that remain unacceptably high. Further efforts are urgently needed to control or eliminate lead exposure in this population. Continued blood lead monitoring of the population is also warranted.

Keywords: lead, childhood lead poisoning, lead mining and smelting, blood lead levels, elevated blood lead levels.

*The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC or WHO.


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