The results were reported in the Feb. 11 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Report. Of the 14 sites, nine centers had data on blood lead tests from children who immigrated from 1991 to 1999. The majority of the children were from Russia and China. The prevalence of elevated blood lead levels ranged from 1 to 13 percent among Chinese adoptees and from 1 to 5 percent among Russian adoptees. A handful of the children from China had such high levels they required chelation therapy to reduce their levels.
Lead poisoning can impair intelligence and cause behavioral problems.
For some adopted children, blood lead testing occurred soon after arriving in the U.S., suggesting that exposure occurred before emigration. Sources of lead exposure outside the U.S. include leaded gasoline exhaust, industrial emissions, traditional medicines, some cosmetics, ceramic ware and foods. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last fall outlined how one adopted child's tuberculosis went undiagnosed for two years until his female guardian contracted the disease. Many parents and physicians in the U.S. are not aware of the need for proper evaluation and follow-up of these children. Educating parents and physicians In that same issue, Dr. Laurie Miller, an adoption medicine specialist in Boston, wrote an accompanying editorial.