Journal of Disease and Global Health (in-press, Feb. 2016); http://www.ikpress.org/articles-press/40 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: sbsums@gmail.com; Original Research Paper THE EFFECTS OF BLOOD LEAD ON THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY SCORE OF 3 RD TRIMESTER PREGNANT WOMEN IN THE KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA B. S. SHAMSUL 1 , H. H. JAMAL 2 , N. I. NIK NASRI 2 AND A. J. ABDUL RAHMAN 2 1 Center of Occupational Safety and Health, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. 2 Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. AUTHOR’S CONTRIBUTION This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author SEA designed the study, wrote the protocol and interpreted the data. Author BS Shamsul and HH Jamal anchored the field study, gathered the initial data and performed preliminary data analysis. While authors NI Nik Nasri and AJ Abdul Rahman managed the literature searches and produced the initial draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. ABSTRACT Pregnant women with high blood lead posed high risk to their fetus as placental transfer can occurs to the fetus. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between blood lead and the neuropsychological score of woman who were in their 3 rd trimester of pregnancy. Methodology: These respondents were underwent a routine antenatal check up at a teaching hospital located in Klang Valley areas. Blood lead concentrations were analyzed using graphite furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The neuropsychological scores were measured with WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test battery (NCTB). The test consists of 7 items, which made up of the Digit Symbol, Trail Making, Digit Span, Benton Visual Retention Test, Pursuit Aiming, Santa Ana Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time and Movement Time tests. Result: The mean blood lead was 7.784.77 g/dL. The mean score for the total NCTB test was 50.00 5.24. Statistical analysis showed blood lead concentrations were inversely correlated with the total NCTB score (r=- 0.462, p0.01). The correlation was about 21.3%. The General Linear Model (GLM) showed that age (  = - 0.15,  = 0.017), weight (=2.67, =0.05) and height (=-1.97, =0.05) also influence the total neuropsychological scores. Conclusion: In conclusion, blood lead reduces the total neuropsychological scores. The scores for each of the 7 items were inversely and significantly correlated with blood lead concentrations except for the Trail Making and Santa Ana Manual Dexterity tests. Keywords: Neuropsychological scores; blood lead concentrations; high risk to fetus; pregnant mothers. 1. INTRODUCTION Lead is a neurotoxin and its toxicity affects the function of the central nervous system and peripheral nerve. For adults, the main effects are peripheral neuropathy whereby the impulse conduction in the nerve is slowed down. Peripheral neuropathies influence the motor and sensory nerve. The effects are seen as the wrist and the ankle drop that are the result of the defect in the radial and peroneal nerves [1].