Notice to Readers Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance -- United States, Second Quarter, 1994

CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance program (ABLES) monitors elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) in adults in the United States. Blood lead data from laboratory reports are transmitted to state-based lead surveillance programs and are compiled by NIOSH for quarterly reporting (1).

The cumulative number of BLL reports for the first and second quarters of 1994 increased 29% over those of the same period for 1993 Table_1. This finding is consistent with a previous ABLES report describing the increasing number of reports of elevated BLL cases among U.S. workers during 1992-1993 (2).

Reports of elevated BLLs represent new, ongoing, or recurrent exposures and illustrate the extent and ongoing nature of elevated BLLs in workers in lead-using industries. Factors that help explain the increase in reports include increased testing of workers in construction trades (3), improved case ascertainment by state-based surveillance programs, and increased numbers of participating states. Finally, during this quarter, the number of persons reported apparently exceeded the number of reports in one reporting category (25-39 ug/dL) because one large industrialized state reports only numbers of persons on a quarterly basis and compiles overall numbers of reports only annually Table_1.

Reported by: NH Chowdhury, MBBS, Alabama Dept of Public Health. C Fowler, MS, Arizona Dept of Health Svcs. FJ Mycroft, PhD, Occupational Health Br, California State Dept of Health Svcs. BC Jung, MPH, Connecticut Dept of Public Health and Addiction Svcs. M Lehnherr, Occupational Disease Registry, Div of Epidemiologic Studies, Illinois Dept of Public Health. R Gergely, Iowa Dept of Public Health. E Keyvan-Larijani, MD, Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, Maryland Dept of the Environment. R Rabin, MSPH, Div of Occupational Hygiene, Massachusetts Dept of Labor and Industries. A Carr, MBA, Bur of Child and Family Svcs, Michigan Dept of Public Health. D Solet, PhD, Div of Public Health Svcs, New Hampshire State Dept of Health and Human Svcs. B Gerwel, MD, Occupational Disease Prevention Project, New Jersey State Dept of Health. R Stone, PhD, New York State Dept of Health. S Randolph, MSN, North Carolina Dept of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources. E Rhoades, MD, Oklahoma State Dept of Health. M Barnett, MS, State Health Div, Oregon Dept of Human Resources. J Gostin, MS, Occupational Health Program, Div of Environmental Health, Pennsylvania Dept of Health. R Marino, MD, Div of Health Hazard Evaluations, South Carolina Dept of Health and Environmental Control. D Perrotta, PhD, Bur of Epidemiology, Texas Dept of Health. D Beaudoin, MD, Bur of Epidemiology, Utah Dept of Health. L Toof, Div of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Vermont Dept of Health. J Kaufman, MD, Washington State Dept of Labor and Industries. D Higgins, Wisconsin Dept of Health and Social Svcs. Div of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC.

References

1. CDC. Surveillance of elevated blood lead levels among adults -- United States, 1992. MMWR 1992;41:285-8.

2. CDC. Adult blood lead epidemiology and surveillance -- United States, 1992-1994. MMWR 1994;43:483-5.

3. Office of the Federal Register. Code of federal regulations: occupational safety and health standards. Subpart Z: toxic and hazardous substances -- lead. Washington, DC: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, 1993 (29 CFR 1926, Part II).

+------------------------------------------------------------------- ------+ | Erratum: Vol. 43, No. 40 | |             | | SOURCE: MMWR 44(01);19 DATE: Jan 13, 1995 | |             | | In "Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance -- United | | States, Second Quarter, 1994," on page 741, the first sentence of | | the second paragraph should read "The cumulative number of BLL | | reports for the first and second quarters of 1994 increased 48% | | over the comparable time period for 1993 (Table_1E)." On pages | | 741-742, the last sentence of the third paragraph should be deleted. | | The following table contains the corrected numbers and footnotes | | and replaces Table_1 on page 742. | |             | +------------------------------------------------------------------- ------+
Table_1
Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.

TABLE 1. Reports of elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) among adults -- 22 states, *
second quarter, 1994
===================================================================================================
                    Second quarter, 1994        Cumulative       Cumulative
Reported BLL     ---------------------------     reports,         reports,
  (ug/dL)        No. reports +  No. persons &     1994 +           1993 @
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
25-39              3,373         3,418            7,459            6,221
40-49              1,015         1,003            2,385            1,478
50-59                212           182              487              321
 >=60                 98            71              214              184

Total              4,698         4,674           10,545            8,204
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Reported by Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachu-
  setts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon,
  Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
+ Pennsylvania reports only numbers of persons on a quarterly basis; quarterly numbers of
  reports and cumulative reports do not include Pennsylvania data.
& Individual reports are categorized according to the highest reported BLL for the person during
  the given quarter.
& Data for first quarter 1993 were reported from 16 states (Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa,
  Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South
  Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin). Data for second quarter 1993 also include
  reports from Arizona, California, and Washington.
===================================================================================================

TABLE 1. Reports of elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) among adults -- 22 states, *
second quarter, 1994
===================================================================================================
                    Second quarter, 1994        Cumulative    Cumulative
Reported BLL     ---------------------------     reports,      reports,
 (ug/dL)         No. reports   No. persons +       1994          1993 &
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
25-39               4,544         2,247            8,630         6,221
40-49               1,372           646            2,742         1,478
50-59                 261           133              536           321
 >=60                 110            59              226           184

Total               6,287         3,085           12,134         8,204
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* Reported by Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachu-
  setts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon,
  Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
+ Individual reports are categorized according to the highest reported BLL for the person during
  the given quarter. Pennsylvania reports only numbers of reports on a quarterly basis; quarterly
  summaries of numbers of persons do not include Pennsylvania data.
& Data for first quarter 1993 reported from 16 states (Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa,
  Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South
  Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin). Data for second quarter 1993 also include
  reports from Arizona, California, and Washington.
===================================================================================================

Disclaimer   All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.

Page converted: 09/19/98

HOME  |  ABOUT MMWR  |  MMWR SEARCH  |  DOWNLOADS  |  RSS |  CONTACT POLICY  |  DISCLAIMER  |  ACCESSIBILITY

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd, MailStop E-90, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A Department of Health and Human Services

This page last reviewed 5/2/01