Petrol lead in a small island environment

Abstract

The Maltese population has been repeatedly shown to have high mean blood lead levels irrespective of age. This study confirms that these higher levels also occur in Maltese children. A definite correlation is shown between high blood lead levels and the environment of the subjects studied, being statistically higher in individuals living on the urbanized larger island. A statistical correlation has been shown between hand-wipe specimens taken from children playing in a playground and the traffic density of the area. A similar statistical correlation between playground, street and household dust to traffic density has also been identified.