A New Syndrome of Elevated Blood Lead and

Blood lead level determinations were carried out on 100 children seen at an outpatient clinic for developmental and learning disabilities in a rural Southern state. One child with moderately elevated blood lead and nine with minimally elevated blood lead were identified; 7 of these 10 children were microcephalic, a markedly and significantly higher rate of micro-cephaly than in the remainder of the clinic sample. Most of the children suffering from the lead-microcephaly syndrome were Black, and a majority had birth weights under 2500 g, suggesting the possibility that prenatal ex-posure to lead might have caused their microcephaly and developmental handicaps. This study examined a sample of nonurban children with developmental and learning disabilities for the presence of previously unidentified lead poisoning or undue lead absorption. It has long been known that children who survive acute lead poisoning are at risk for mental retardation and other disorders resulting from damage to the central nervous system (Byers & Lord, 1943). More recent research has suggested that exposure to lead short of the levels producing acute symptoms may also lead to impaired mental development, difficulties in learning, or hyperactivity in childre