Lead Exposure and Associated Risk Factors among New Migrant Children Arriving in Greece
by
Marsela Tanaka 1,
Konstantinos Petsios 2
,
Stavroula K. Dikalioti 1,*,
Stavroula Poulopoulou 3,
Vassiliki Matziou 1,
Stamatios Theocharis 4 and
Ioanna D. Pavlopoulou 1
Marsela Tanaka 1,
Konstantinos Petsios 2,
Stavroula K. Dikalioti 1,*,
Stavroula Poulopoulou 3,
Vassiliki Matziou 1,
Stamatios Theocharis 4 and
Ioanna D. Pavlopoulou 1
1
Pediatric Clinic, “P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Nursing, Thivon & Levadeias str., Athens 11527, Greece
2
Department of Nursing Research, Onassis Cardiosurgical Center, 356 Sygrou Avenue, Athens 17674, Greece
3
Department of Statistics, Athens University of Economy & Business, 76 Patission str., Athens 10434, Greece
4
Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75 M. Asias str., Athens 11527, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(6), 1057; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061057
Received: 26 April 2018 / Revised: 16 May 2018 / Accepted: 17 May 2018 / Published: 23 May 2018
(This article belongs to the Section Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion)
Background: This study aims to assess lead exposure and associated risk factors among newly arrived migrant (M) (immigrant and refugees) children in Greece and a matched control of native (N) children. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was performed in an outpatient clinic of a tertiary children’s hospital. Results: From 2010 to 2014, 598 children (M/N: 349/249) with a mean age of 6.96 years old (range 1–14, SD 3.76) were enrolled. Blood lead levels (BLLs) ranged from 0.7 to 21 μg/dL in migrant and from 0.4 to 10 μg/dL in native Greek children. Elevated BLLs ≥ 5 μg/dL were detected in 27.7% of migrants and 1.2% of natives (p < 0.001). A significant association was found between EBLLs and childrens’ age (≤5 years) (OR: 1.8, p-value 0.02) and EBLLs with Asian origin (OR: 3.63, p-value 0.023). Conclusion: New migrant children presented with increased BLLs when compared to their age- and sex-matched controls. Younger age and Asian origin were significant risk factors associated with elevated BLLs among children. Early screening, secondary prevention, and regular follow-up could prove useful in this vulnerable population.
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Keywords:
blood lead levels; children; immigrants; refugees
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Tanaka, M.; Petsios, K.; Dikalioti, S.K.; Poulopoulou, S.; Matziou, V.; Theocharis, S.; Pavlopoulou, I.D. Lead Exposure and Associated Risk Factors among New Migrant Children Arriving in Greece. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1057.
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