Teachers' ratings of children's behaviour in relation to blood lead levels

Teachers rated the behaviour of 166 children whose blood lead levels had previously been determined. Ratings were made on the Conners Scale, the Rutter Scale B(2), and Needleman's Scale. The results broadly replicated the findings of Needleman et al. (1979) in so far as they indicate a relationship between difficulties in attention and increased blood lead levels over the normal range of blood lead values. ‘Hyperactivity’ on the Rutter and Conners scales were found to be significantly related to children's blood lead levels, independent of chronological age. Social factors remain uncontrolled in this pilot study.