Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25280233›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2015

Environmental lead exposure and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom domains in a community sample of South Korean school-age children.

Soon-Beom Hong, Mee-Hyang Im, Jae-Won Kim, Eun-Jin Park, Min-Sup Shin, Boong-Nyun Kim, Hee-Jeong Yoo, In-Hee Cho, Soo-Young Bhang, Yun-Chul Hong and 1 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
49citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

49 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. The Association between Lead and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019
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  9. DNA Methylation ofEnvironment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026
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  11. The effect of chelation on bone Pb stores in Pb poisoned children.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Soon-Beom HongDivision of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Mee-Hyang Im
Jae-Won Kim
Eun-Jin Park
Min-Sup Shin
Boong-Nyun Kim
Hee-Jeong Yoo
In-Hee Cho
Soo-Young Bhang
Yun-Chul Hong
Soo-Churl Cho

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLow-level environmental exposure to lead has been associated with both reduced intelligence and symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, few studies have estimated the association of lead and intelligence independent of ADHD, and it is not clear from previous studies whether lead is associated with both inattention and impulsivity ADHD symptoms.

objectivesWe estimated mutually adjusted associations of environmental lead exposure with both intelligence and ADHD symptoms, and associations between lead and specific ADHD-related domains.

methodsBlood lead concentrations were measured in a general population of 1,001 children 8-11 years of age. We used multivariable linear regression models to estimate associations of blood lead concentrations with IQ scores, teacher and parent ratings of ADHD symptoms, and measures of inattention and impulsivity. Models were adjusted for demographic variables and other environmental exposures (blood levels of mercury and manganese, urinary concentrations of cotinine, phthalate metabolites, and bisphenol A).

resultsAssociations of blood lead with lower IQ and higher impulsivity were robust to adjustment for a variety of covariates. When adjusted for demographic characteristics, other environmental exposures, and ADHD symptoms or IQ, a 10-fold increase in blood lead concentration was associated with lower Full-Scale IQ (-7.23; 95% CI: -13.39, -1.07) and higher parent- and teacher-rated hyperactivity/impulsivity scores (ADHD Rating Scale, 1.99; 95% CI: 0.17, 3.81 and 3.66; 95% CI: 1.18, 6.13, respectively) and commission errors (Continuous Performance Test, 12.27; 95% CI: -0.08, 24.62). Blood lead was not significantly associated with inattention in adjusted models.

conclusionsLow-level lead exposure was adversely associated with intelligence in school-age children independent of ADHD, and environmental lead exposure was selectively associated with impulsivity among the clinical features of ADHD.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityChildCognition DisordersCross-Sectional StudiesEnvironmental ExposureEnvironmental PollutantsFemaleHumansIntelligenceLeadMaleRepublic of KoreaEnvironmental PollutantsLead

Identifiers

PMID25280233
PMCPMC4348739

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.