Measures to reduce people鈥檚 exposure to lead are working. A new British
survey reveals that concentrations in blood have fallen dramatically over the
past two decades. 鈥淲e looked at 6800 blood samples, and the average level of
lead was down to a third of what it was in 1987,鈥� says survey coordinator David
Gompertz of the Institute of Environment and Health in Leicester. 鈥淭he news is
very good.鈥�
The survey vindicates earlier measures to remove lead from petrol, paint,
solder and food cans. But there are still risks from flaking paintwork dating
from the 1960s, and from soft water fed into homes through vintage lead
pipes.