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Introduction : Lead, which though its levels is not highly increased in the environment, still constitutes a real danger for children, particularly those living in mining site. Indeed, Lead is an intrusive toxic matter which harms the neuro-cognitive and behavioral development of children even with doses considered normal.
Purpose : The present paper aims at evaluating the memory, attention and intelligence skills among 130 schoolchildren living in a mining area (cases) in comparison to 197 living in the Chouiter area (control group) in Marrakech.
Materiel and methods : We used the Digit Span Test (DST), Bell Dam Test (BDT) and Color Progressive Matrix of Raven (CPMR) for the assessment of their memory, attentional and intelligence skills respectively. Interviews with parents were conducted to identify co-variables related to Pb exposure. Agricultural soil, drinking, and groundwater were collected from the surrounding area of the children's school. The determination of Pb content in the environment was performed by ICP-MS.
Results : The results demonstrated that soil Pb level was higher (67.14±10.13 g/g) in mining site than in controls (41.73±13.6 g/g). Pb levels in groundwater and drinking water were low with a significant difference between the two areas in groundwater. The cognitive scores of children from the mining area don’t present any significant difference when compared to that of control group in measures of attentional skills and scanning methods. Working memory capacity was normal in both groups of children. Children from mining area exhibited poor 50 percentiles on the intelligence test compared to the control groupe. The mean scores of attention were significantly lower in children exposed to environmental Pb contamination compared to those who are not exposed (p = 0.008).
Conclusion : We have not recorded any cases of lead poisoning. Nevertheless, the risk of contamination still exists given the low lead contamination of soil.
