Description - Figure 5 - Lead Risk Management Strategy for Lead

Figure 5. Blood lead levels (Canadian Health Measures Survey 2007–2009; U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2008) Geometric mean and 95th percentile (error bars indicate 95 percent confidence interval and upper and lower confidence limits)

Bar chart showing geometric mean blood lead levels in U.S. children and Canadians for males and females in various age groups and also the 95th percentiles for each of these groups. For age 1 to 5 taken from the U.S. survey, the geometric mean for males and females combined is 1.51 micrograms per decilitre (95th percentile is 4.10 micrograms per decilitre), and taken from the Canadian survey, for age 6 to 11, geometric mean for males is 0.92 (95th percentile is 1.96) and geometric mean for females is 0.87 micrograms per decilitre (95th percentile is 1.93 micrograms per decilitre); age 12 to 19, geometric mean for males is 0.88 (95th  percentile is  1.79 micrograms per decilitre) and geometric mean for females is 0.71 micrograms per decilitre (95th  percentile is 1.46 micrograms per decilitre); age 20 to 39 geometric mean for males is 1.41 (95th  percentile is 3.65 micrograms per decilitre) and geometric mean for females is 0.89 micrograms per decilitre (95th  percentile is 2.85 micrograms per decilitre); age 40 to 59 geometric mean for males is 1.74 (95th percentile is 3.95 micrograms per decilitre) and geometric mean for females is 1.47 micrograms per decilitre (95th percentile is 3.70 micrograms per decilitre); age 60 to 79 geometric mean for males is 2.31 (95th percentile is 6.17 micrograms per decilitre) and geometric mean for females is 1.89 micrograms per decilitre (95th percentile is 4.53 micrograms per decilitre).  The chart also indicates that the current blood lead intervention level set in 1994 by the CEOH or Federal-Provincial Committee on Environmental and Occupation Health, is 10 micrograms per decilitre, and that all of the aforementioned values are below this guideline.