PHY3.A: Lead in the blood of children: Percentage of children ages 1–5 with specified blood lead levels by race and Hispanic origin, and poverty status, 2001–2004

 PHY3A Excel Table

Characteristic	10 µg/dL	5 µg/dL	2.5 µg/dL
Totala	1.2	6.4	26.2
Race and Hispanic originb
White, non-Hispanic	0.9c	4.2	19.1
Black, non-Hispanic	3.5c	17.2	51.2
Mexican American	*	3.9	24.5
Poverty status
Below 100% poverty	1.8c	12.4	44.0
100% poverty or above	0.8c	3.4	17.2
* Estimate is considered unreliable (relative standard error is greater than 40 percent)
a Totals include data for racial/ethnic groups not shown separately.
b From 2001–2004, the revised 1997 OMB Standards for Data on Race and Ethnicity were used. Persons could select one or more of five racial groups: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Included in the total but not shown separately are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander due to the small sample size for each of these groups. Data on race and Hispanic origin are collected and reported separately but combined for reporting. Persons of Mexican origin may be of any race. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sample was designed to provide estimates specifically for persons of Mexican origin.
c Estimates are unstable because they are based on a small number of persons (relative standard error is greater than 30 percent).
NOTE: Data for 2001–2004 are combined. A blood lead level of 10 µg/dL or greater is considered elevated, 1 but adverse health effects have been shown to occur at lower concentrations.2
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2002). Managing elevated blood lead levels among young children: Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. Atlanta, GA. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/CaseManagement/caseManage_main.htm
2 Canfield, R.L., Henderson, C.R. Jr., Cory-Slechta, D.A., Cox, C., Jusko, T.A., and Lanphear, B.P. (2003). Intellectual impairment in children with blood lead concentrations below 10 microg per deciliter. New England Journal of Medicine, 348(16), 1517–1526.