 this review shows the equal or greater importance of leaded gasoline - contaminated dust compared to lead - based paint to the child lead problem , and that soil lead , resulting from leaded gasoline and pulverized lead - based paint , is at least or more important than lead - based paint ( intact and not pulverized ) as a pathway of human lead exposure . 
 because lead - based paint is a high - dose source , the biologically relevant dosage is similar to lead in soil . 
 both lead - based paint and soil lead are associated with severe lead poisoning . 
 leaded gasoline and lead in food , but not lead - based paint , are strongly associated with population blood lead levels in both young children and adults . soil lead and house dust , but not lead - based paint , are associated with population blood lead levels in children . 
 most soil lead and house dust are associated with leaded gasoline . 
 lead - based paint dust is associated with cases of renovation of either exterior or interior environments in which the paint was pulverized . based upon the limited data to date , abatement of soil lead 
 is more effective than abatement of lead - based paint in reducing blood lead levels of young children . about equal numbers of children under 7 years of age 
 are exposed to soil lead and lead - based paint . 
 seasonality studies point to soil lead as the main source of population blood lead levels . 
 soil lead is a greater risk factor than lead - based paint to children engaged in hand - to - mouth and pica behavior . in summary , 
 soil lead is important for addressing the population of children at risk of lead poisoning . 
 when soil lead is acknowledged by regulators and the public health community as an important pathway of human lead exposure , then more effective opportunities for improving primary lead prevention can become a reality.imagesfigure 1 
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