Lead Poisoning in ChildrenIncluding Nine Cases Treated with Edathamil Calcium-Disodium

Abstract

During the 14-year period between 1939 and 1952, 20 cases of lead poisoning were diagnosed at the Children's Memorial Hospital. The greatest number in any one single year in this period was four. During the year 1953, the diagnosis of plumbism was substantiated by means of history and laboratory examination in 13 children. The apparent increase in the incidence of intoxication with materials containing lead prompted this report. The 33 children in this report were all less than 5 years of age. The greatest in cidence of occurrence was between 1 and 3 years of age and included 23 cases, or 70% of the total. Table 1 presents the age distribution of the 33 cases. The youngest patient in this series is a 10-month-old infant who had been nibbling upon a recently painted crib and furniture for three months. The oldest child is a girl aged 4½ years who had