Abstract

The lead values in maternal and infant blood, in placental tissue, and in stillbirth liver, kidney, and rib- and skull-bones have been determined in samples from the Stoke-on-Trent area. The lead values in antenatal blood and placenta increase with occupational exposure; liver and kidney stillbirth lead values are lower than those of much older children and rib-bone lead values from stillbirths were on average three times as high as those from a control group comprised of cot deaths and early infant deaths from accidental causes.