PMID: 9641707Jun 26, 1998Paper

Accuracy and reproducibility of blood lead testing in commercial laboratories

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
N K JobanputraG G Rhoads

Abstract

To assess the proficiency of commercial laboratories in analyzing lead in clinical blood samples from subjects without overt lead exposure. We submitted masked duplicate blood lead specimens to 8 masked laboratories. Each laboratory received blood aliquots immediately following drawing (time 1) and 2 weeks later (time 2) from 7 human subjects and 3 bovine blood samples with known lead levels of 0.26, 0.57, and 0.79 micromol/L (5.4, 11.8, and 16.4 microg/dL). Of the 8 laboratories, 5 were commercial laboratories, 1 was a state laboratory, 1 was a research laboratory, and 1 was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference laboratory. Correlation coefficients were calculated, and differences within and between laboratories were assessed by analysis of variance. Results were obtained for all specimens, with all the human subjects' overall mean lead levels being less than 0.48 micromol/L (<10 microg/dL). Each laboratory reported all human blood specimens appropriately, as having lead levels less than 0.48 micromol/L (<10 microg/dL) and within 0.14 micromol/L (3 microg/dL) of the overall mean for that subject. All internal reproducibilities were very high (range, 0.92-1.00) except for one (0.60), possibly lower because of...Continue Reading

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