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Lead poisoning

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Lead poisoning is a chronic, or acute, toxicity caused by the build-up of lead, a heavy metal, in the body of a human (or other animal). For lead levels in the blood of adults and children, the CDC has set recommended upper limits that should not be exceeded. Surprisingly small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems. Young children are especially at risk. Lead poisoning might cause a variety of symptoms, including abdominal pain, muscle cramps, constipation, headaches, neurobehavioral problems, or tingling in the hands and feet. Severe problems such as infertility, anemia, seizures, coma, or death might occur.

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  • Lead poisoning existed and was already known in Antiquity but was forgotten, at least in the literature, until the end of the Middle Ages, where it was mentioned sporadically. In the 19th century this disease, which reached epidemic dimensions during the period of industrialization, was “rediscovered.” Several comprehensive clinical articles appeared in the literature. The clinical picture deepened during the beginning of the 20th century, and preventive efforts were started. However, the concept of poisoning remained strictly clinical. During the latter half of the 20th century a new concept emerged: subclinical and early forms became recognized as undesirable effects. This led to a substantial lowering of hygienic standards. Pediatric poisoning has also been a serious problem during the 20th century. After the 1920s, environmental pollution by lead caused by the introduction of tetraethyl lead in gasoline became an alarming public health problem. The use became restricted in the 1980s; its effects on blood lead levels are now evident. Today's research focuses on the effects of low exposure, often with the aim of defining noneffect levels for different types of effects.
  • To determine whether the effects of low-level lead exposure persist, we reexamined 132 of 270 young adults who had initially been studied as primary schoolchildren in 1975 through 1978. In the earlier study, neurobehavioral functioning was found to be inversely related to dentin lead levels. As compared with those we restudied, the other 138 subjects had had somewhat higher lead levels on earlier analysis, as well as significantly lower IQ scores and poorer teachers' ratings of classroom behavior.
    When the 132 subjects were reexamined in 1988, impairment in neurobehavioral function was still found to be related to the lead content of teeth shed at the ages of six and seven. The young people with dentin lead levels >20 ppm had a markedly higher risk of dropping out of high school (adjusted odds ratio, 7.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 40.7) and of having a reading disability (odds ratio, 5.8; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.7 to 19.7) as compared with those with dentin lead levels <10 ppm. Higher lead levels in childhood were also significantly associated with lower class standing in high school, increased absenteeism, lower vocabulary and grammatical-reasoning scores, poorer hand—eye coordination, longer reaction times, and slower finger tapping. No significant associations were found with the results of 10 other tests of neurobehavioral functioning. Lead levels were inversely related to self-reports of minor delinquent activity.
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