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Keson Theppeang, MHS, Thomas A. Glass, PhD, Karen Bandeen-Roche, PhD, Andrew C. Todd, PhD, Charles A. Rohde, PhD and Brian S. Schwartz, MD

Keson Theppeang and Brian S. Schwartz are with the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Occupational and Environmental Health; Thomas A. Glass and Brian S. Schwartz are with the Department of Epidemiology; and Keson Theppeang, Karen Bandeen-Roche, and Charles A. Rohde are with the Department of Biostatistics, all at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. Andrew C. Todd is with the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Brian S. Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe St, Room W7041, Baltimore, MD 21205 (e-mail: bschwart{at}jhsph.edu).

Objectives. We sought to identify predictors of lead concentrations in the blood, tibias, and patellae of older adults and to describe differences by gender, race/ethnicity, and other factors that can influence lead toxicokinetics and, thus modify health effects.

Methods. Participants aged 50 to 70 years (N=1140) were randomly identified from selected neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland. We measured lead concentrations by anodic stripping voltammetry (in blood) and ¹⁰⁹Cd-induced K-shell x-ray fluorescence (in bone). We used multiple linear regression to identify predictors of lead concentrations.

Results. Mean (SD) lead concentrations in blood, tibias, and patellae were 3.5 (2.4) µg/dL, 18.9 (12.5) µg/g, and 6.8 (18.1) µg/g, respectively. Tibia concentrations were 29% higher in African Americans than in Whites (P < .01). We observed effect modification by race/ethnicity on the association of gender and physical activity to blood lead concentrations and by gender on the association of age to tibia lead concentrations. Patella lead concentrations differed by gender; apolipoprotein E genotype modified this relation.

Conclusions. African Americans evidenced a prominent disparity in lifetime lead dose. Women may be at higher risk of release of lead from bone and consequent health effects because of increased bone demineralization with aging.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. F. Bouchard, D. C. Bellinger, J. Weuve, J. Matthews-Bellinger, S. E. Gilman, R. O. Wright, J. Schwartz, and M. G. Weisskopf Blood Lead Levels and Major Depressive Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in US Young Adults Arch Gen Psychiatry, December 1, 2009; 66(12): 1313 - 1319. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. A. Glass, K. Bandeen-Roche, M. McAtee, K. Bolla, A. C. Todd, and B. S. Schwartz Neighborhood Psychosocial Hazards and the Association of Cumulative Lead Dose With Cognitive Function in Older Adults Am. J. Epidemiol., March 15, 2009; 169(6): 683 - 692. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]