Lead is a poisonous metal with devastating consequences especially in young children; no biological role in the body has been ascribed to lead so far. Chronic lead exposure leads to so many problems related to the neurological, hematological, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and renal systems especially in children. The purpose of this comparative study was to determine and compare the blood lead levels in children aged 3-12 years with Developmental Delay, Intellectual Disability, Cognitive and/or Behavioral Problems with normal children of same age and to find the correlation, if any, between the developmental delay, Intellectual Disability, Cognitive and/or behavioral problems and lead.The study wasa hospital based comparative study of both admitted and outdoor patients/children aged 3-12 years. Blood lead concentration was determined by Atomic absorption spectrometry in 71 subjects with 24 cases of developmental delay, intellectual disability, cognitive and/or behavioral problems and 47 controls like acute gastritis, febrile illness, respiratory tract infections etc. The mean blood lead level was higher in children with developmental delay, intellectual disability, cognitive and/or behavioral problems than in controls (8.55 μg/dl with standard deviation of 2.20 μg/dl in Cases and 1.93 μg/dl with standard deviation of 1.50 μg/dl in Controls; p < 0.001). An elevation of blood lead level in children may be associated with developmental, neurological and psychiatric problems. A blood lead level could be included in the diagnostic evaluation of children with such problems. It also warrants an exhaustive study of lead levels in pediatric age group and to point out the environmental pollutants containing lead.
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