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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2002;287:1794.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 104 words of the full text and any section headings.

Citing the well-known detrimental effects of environmental lead on the health of children, more than 300 environmental and health experts meeting in Bangkok last month at the First International Conference on Environmental Risks to Children's Health called on Asian governments to ban lead in gasoline.

"Studies in Europe and the United States have shown conclusively that the removal of lead from gasoline reduced the level of lead in children's blood by 90%," said Richard Helmer, PhD, Director for Environmental Protection at the World Health Organization. "This in turn led to a 30% to 40% reduction in learning disabilities caused by lead."