A REVIEW OF BLOOD LEAD RESULTS FROM THE 3RD NATIONAL-HEALTH AND NUTRITIONAL EXAMINATION SURVEY (NHANES-III)

Editor's note: Loren Anderson is currently treasurer of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and has served in leadership roles in both AIHA and the American Board of Industrial Hygiene. He has given key talks at the last three annual Lead Tech conferences on behalf of AIHA. Anderson here summarizes and interprets the most recent findings from the NHANES III study regarding blood lead levels in the U.S. population. As he notes, we have had a public health success in greatly reducing blood lead levels over the past 20 years. There is still more work to be done, and industrial hygienists have a key role to play in minimizing lead exposure in the general population.