Lead in Paint: Three Decades Later and Still a Hazard for African Children? Angela Mathee,1,2 Halina Röllin,1,2 Jonathan Levin,1 and Inakshi Naik3 1South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, South Africa; 2World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Urban Health, Johannesburg, South Africa; 3National Institute for Occupational Health, Johannesburg, South Africa Abstract Background: Surveys undertaken in South Africa have shown that a large proportion of children are exposed to lead from a variety of sources. Objectives: The overall objective of this work was to examine, through a series of small-scale investigations, the role of lead-based paint in the blood lead distribution of South African children. Discussion: We suggest that the African public health community strengthen their efforts to prevent lead poisoning in African children through a holistic approach that includes the promulgation and enforcement of appropriate legislation as well as research to identify further sources of exposure to lead. Key words: children, environment, lead, paint, South Africa. Environ Health Perspect 115:321–322 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9575 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 14 December 2006] Address correspondence to A. Mathee, Postal address: Medical Research Council, P.O. Box 87373, Houghton, 2041, Johannesburg, South Africa. Physical address: Medical Research Council, Broll Place, Sunnyside Office Park, 4 Carse O'Gowrie Road, Parktown, 2132, Johannesburg, South Africa. Telephone: 27 11 274 6060. Fax: 27 11 642 6832. E-mail: amathee@mrc.ac.za Funding for this work was obtained from the South African Medical Research Council. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 3 August 2006 ; accepted 14 December 2006. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |