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Health Care Practitioners & Educators
Click here for recent articles about effects of low-lead levels on children. Click here for recent articles about the effects of lead levels on adults. A link to product recalls can be found here. If you are a health practitioner, you can:
We are also interested in working together with health care practitioners to:
A detailed description of the chemistry of lead in the human body and its effects on many different body systems, lead poisoning diagnoses, and interventions. http://www.emedicine.com/RADIO/topic386.htm The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) makes
recommendations to Pediatricians:
Health Effects of Low level Lead
on Children Conclusions: Evidence from this cohort indicates
that children’s intellectual functioning at 6 years of age is impaired by
blood lead concentrations well below 10 μg/dL, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention definition of an elevated blood lead level. 2. Environmental Health Perspectives • VOLUME 115 |
NUMBER 8 | August 2007 Conclusions: Our emphasis on population-level
analyses of children who are roughly the same age linked to previous (rather
than contemporaneous) blood lead levels using achievement (rather than
aptitude) outcome complements the important work in this area by previous
researchers. Our results suggest that the relationship between blood lead
levels and cognitive outcomes are robust across outcome measures and at low
levels of lead exposure. 3. PEDIATRICS Volume 118, Number 2, August 2006 Conclusions: These analyses indicate that
children’s neurodevelopment is inversely related to their blood lead levels
even in the range of <10 µg/dL. Our findings were consistent with a
supralinear relationship between blood lead levels and neurobehavioral
outcomes. 4. NeuroToxicology 28 (2007) 1170–1177 Overall, our analyses support prior research that
children’s blood levels <10 mg/dL are related to compromised cognition and
highlight that these may especially be related to academic achievement. 5. CDC, MMWR, Recommendations and Reports, November 2,
2007 / 56(RR08);1-14;16 This report summarizes the findings of a review of
clinical interpretation and management of BLLs <10 µg/dL conducted by CDC's
Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. This report
provides information to help clinicians understand BLLs <10 µg/dL,
identifies gaps in knowledge concerning lead levels in this range, and
outlines strategies to reduce childhood exposures to lead. In addition, this
report summarizes scientific data relevant to counseling, blood lead
screening, and lead exposure risk assessment. 6. American Journal of Public Health | January 2008,
Vol. 98, No. 1 Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate an
increased risk of lead poisoning among immigrant children. 7. Biol. Psychiatry 2008;63:325–331 Conclusions: Low-level lead exposure might be an
important contributor to ADHD. Its effects seem to be mediated by less
effective cognitive control, consistent with a route of influence via
striatal-frontal neural circuits. 8. Environmental Research 104 (2007) 315–336 This study shows a very strong association between
preschool blood lead and subsequent crime rate trends over several decades
in the USA, Britain, Canada, France, Australia, Finland, Italy, West
Germany, and New Zealand. Lanphear_et_al_pooled_analysis_EHP_2005.pdf, Study confirmed that low lead levels result in a drop in IQ and that a proportionally greater decrease is seen at lead levels <7.5 µg/dl. 2007-02-27
Health Effects of Low level Lead
on Adults Comprehensive discussion of lead’s effects on adult
blood pressure, kidney function and cognitive decline. 2. Circulation 2006;114;1388-1394 Conclusions: The association between blood lead
levels and increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was observed at
substantially lower blood lead levels than previously reported. Despite the
marked decrease in blood lead levels over the past 3 decades, environmental
lead exposures remain a significant determinant of cardiovascular mortality
in the general population, constituting a major public health problem. 3. Circulation
2006;114:1347-1349 4. Environ Health Perspective 2006
Oct;114(10):1538-41. Conclusion: In a nationally representative
sample of the U.S. population, blood lead levels as low as 5-9 mug/dL were
associated with an increased risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular
disease, and cancer. 5. Mini-Monograph We have assembled this mini-monograph on adult lead
exposure to provide guidance to clinicians and public health professionals,
to summarize recent thinking on lead biomarkers and their relevance to
epidemiologic research, and to review two key lead-related outcomes, namely,
cardiovascular and cognitive. The lead standards of the U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration are woefully out of date given the growing
evidence of the health effects of lead at levels of exposure previously
thought to be safe, particularly newly recognized persistent or progressive
effects of cumulative dose. The growing body of scientific evidence suggests
that occupational standards should limit recent dose to prevent the acute
effects of lead and separately limit cumulative dose to prevent the chronic
effects of lead. We hope this mini-monograph will motivate renewed
discussion of ways to protect lead-exposed adults in the United States and
around the world. b. The Epidemiology of Lead Toxicity in Adults:
Measuring Dose and Consideration of Other Methodologic Issues We review several issues of broad relevance to the
interpretation of epidemiologic evidence concerning the toxicity of lead in
adults, particularly regarding cognitive function and the cardiovascular
system, which are the subjects of two systematic reviews that are also part
of this mini-monograph. c. Recommendations for Medical Management of Adult
Lead Exposure We summarize a body of published literature that
establishes the potential for hypertension, effects on renal function,
cognitive dysfunction, and adverse female reproductive outcome in adults
with whole-blood lead concentrations < 40 μg/dL. Based on this literature,
and our collective experience in evaluating lead-exposed adults, we
recommend that individuals be removed from occupational lead exposure if a
single blood lead concentration exceeds 30 μg/dL or if two successive blood
lead concentrations measured over a 4-week interval are ≥ 20 μg/dL. d. Lead Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease—A
Systematic Review Conclusions: We conclude that the evidence is
sufficient to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with
hypertension. We conclude that the evidence is suggestive but not sufficient
to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with clinical cardiovascular
outcomes. There is also suggestive but insufficient evidence to infer a
causal relationship of lead exposure with heart rate variability. e. Cumulative Lead Dose and Cognitive Function in
Adults: A Review of Studies That Measured Both Blood Lead and Bone Lead Conclusions: At exposure levels encountered
after environmental exposure, associations with biomarkers of cumulative
dose (mainly lead in tibia) were stronger and more consistent than
associations with blood lead levels. Similarly, in studies of former workers
with past occupational lead exposure, associations were also stronger and
more consistent with cumulative dose than with recent dose (in blood). In
contrast, studies of currently exposed workers generally found associations
that were more apparent with blood lead levels; we speculate that the acute
effects of high, recent dose may mask the chronic effects of cumulative
dose. There is moderate evidence for an association between psychiatric
symptoms and lead dose but only at high levels of current occupational lead
exposure or with cumulative dose in environmentally exposed adults. |
The Lead Poisoning Prevention Program collects the most recent scientific studies, articles, consumer alerts & updates related to
the effects of lead exposure. Call
828-251-6104 or read the articles linked below.