Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation

Background—Against childhood lead poisoning, removing lead exposure is the main measure, but how to do it effectively has not been fully established. Our objective was to determine the impact of several interventions (education, housing remediation, and relocation) on children’s blood lead levels. M...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hugues de Barberin-Barberini, Elisabeth Jouve, Jean-Christophe Dubus, Karine Hadji, Remi Laporte
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Toxics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/7/552
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850072268855574528
author Hugues de Barberin-Barberini
Elisabeth Jouve
Jean-Christophe Dubus
Karine Hadji
Remi Laporte
author_facet Hugues de Barberin-Barberini
Elisabeth Jouve
Jean-Christophe Dubus
Karine Hadji
Remi Laporte
author_sort Hugues de Barberin-Barberini
collection DOAJ
description Background—Against childhood lead poisoning, removing lead exposure is the main measure, but how to do it effectively has not been fully established. Our objective was to determine the impact of several interventions (education, housing remediation, and relocation) on children’s blood lead levels. Methods—A historical cohort of childhood lead poisoning was drawn in Marseille, France, from 2011 to 2018. A generalized mixed model was developed to study the kinetics of blood lead levels. Results—We included 151 children, with 56% living in legal substandard housing and others living in slums. Medical follow-up (median: 612 days) included 492 blood samples. In legal substandard housing, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with every intervention. In slums, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with housing relocation and education, although to a lesser extent. Conclusions—Every intervention contributed to reducing blood lead levels in substandard housing. Educational intervention is rapidly implemented. Housing remediation follows a long-lasting but effective legal procedure. Some families get housing relocation, depending on their financial resources or whether they are eligible for social housing. In slums, access to legal housing is the most effective against environmental exposure and education has a wider impact on health literacy.
format Article
id doaj-art-c709e4b29e584fa580d1a7a24d4b9706
institution DOAJ
issn 2305-6304
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Toxics
spelling doaj-art-c709e4b29e584fa580d1a7a24d4b97062025-08-20T02:47:06ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042025-06-0113755210.3390/toxics13070552Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and RelocationHugues de Barberin-Barberini0Elisabeth Jouve1Jean-Christophe Dubus2Karine Hadji3Remi Laporte4Service d’Accueil des Urgences Pédiatriques, Hôpital Nord, AP-HM, 13015 Marseille, FranceService d’Evaluation Medicale, AP-HM, 13005 Marseille, FranceService d’Accueil des Urgences Pédiatriques, Hôpital Nord, AP-HM, 13015 Marseille, FranceDépartement Santé Environnement, Agence Regionale de Santé Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 13003 Marseille, FranceService d’Accueil des Urgences Pédiatriques, Hôpital Nord, AP-HM, 13015 Marseille, FranceBackground—Against childhood lead poisoning, removing lead exposure is the main measure, but how to do it effectively has not been fully established. Our objective was to determine the impact of several interventions (education, housing remediation, and relocation) on children’s blood lead levels. Methods—A historical cohort of childhood lead poisoning was drawn in Marseille, France, from 2011 to 2018. A generalized mixed model was developed to study the kinetics of blood lead levels. Results—We included 151 children, with 56% living in legal substandard housing and others living in slums. Medical follow-up (median: 612 days) included 492 blood samples. In legal substandard housing, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with every intervention. In slums, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with housing relocation and education, although to a lesser extent. Conclusions—Every intervention contributed to reducing blood lead levels in substandard housing. Educational intervention is rapidly implemented. Housing remediation follows a long-lasting but effective legal procedure. Some families get housing relocation, depending on their financial resources or whether they are eligible for social housing. In slums, access to legal housing is the most effective against environmental exposure and education has a wider impact on health literacy.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/7/552childhood lead poisoningsubstandard housingslumeducational interventionhousing remediationhousing relocation
spellingShingle Hugues de Barberin-Barberini
Elisabeth Jouve
Jean-Christophe Dubus
Karine Hadji
Remi Laporte
Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation
Toxics
childhood lead poisoning
substandard housing
slum
educational intervention
housing remediation
housing relocation
title Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation
title_full Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation
title_fullStr Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation
title_full_unstemmed Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation
title_short Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation
title_sort fighting lead poisoning effective conditions for home based education housing remediation and relocation
topic childhood lead poisoning
substandard housing
slum
educational intervention
housing remediation
housing relocation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/7/552
work_keys_str_mv AT huguesdebarberinbarberini fightingleadpoisoningeffectiveconditionsforhomebasededucationhousingremediationandrelocation
AT elisabethjouve fightingleadpoisoningeffectiveconditionsforhomebasededucationhousingremediationandrelocation
AT jeanchristophedubus fightingleadpoisoningeffectiveconditionsforhomebasededucationhousingremediationandrelocation
AT karinehadji fightingleadpoisoningeffectiveconditionsforhomebasededucationhousingremediationandrelocation
AT remilaporte fightingleadpoisoningeffectiveconditionsforhomebasededucationhousingremediationandrelocation