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Robert H. Pantell, MD; John I. Takayama, MD, MPH; Thomas B. Newman, MD, MPH
University of California, San Francisco

JAMA. 1993;270(17):2054.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—Because even low levels of lead may affect children's cognition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention¹ in 1991 recommended universal lead screening despite a lack of convincing evidence that children with abnormal levels would benefit from interventions. The studies by Ruff et al² and Weitzman et al³ addressed whether a decline in blood lead levels is associated with improved cognitive function and whether lead abatement decreases blood lead levels. The data from these important contributions, however, support neither the conclusion of the Editorial by Drs Binder and Matte⁴ nor current policies of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention¹ and the American Academy of Pediatrics for mass screening. The benefits of intervention after case detection appear minimal and the cost immense.

Ruff et al² found that among children with blood lead levels higher than 1.21 µmol/L (25 µg/dL), the cognitive . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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