DETROIT — The Arab American and Chaldean Council recently announced that its study on lead poisoning among Arab American and African American children in the metro Detroit area was published in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Journal. 

The study explored the hypothesis that acculturation is a risk factor for childhood lead poisoning in the Detroit area and determined that the difference in blood lead levels between Arab American children from families where only Arabic was spoken versus homes where both Arabic and English is spoken was statistically significant. The comparison between African American children and Arab Americans determined that neither the age nor ethnicity of the kids had a strong effect on blood lead levels. Acculturation-related factors identified included paternal education, language spoken at home, home ownership, smoking in the home, and exposure of child to home health remedies. The study focused on 429 children from each group and found that 3.3% of kids tested had BLL higher than the standard level of concern.