Lead Toxicity: Current Concerns

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives Vol. 100; pp. 177 - 187
• Main Author: Goyer, Robert A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. National Institutes of Health. Department of Health, Education and Welfare 01-04-1993
• Subjects: 550900 - Pathology; 552000 - Public Health; 560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology; ADULTS; AGE GROUPS; ANGIOTENSIN; Animals; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS; BLOOD; BLOOD PRESSURE; BODY; BODY FLUIDS; Bone and Bones - drug effects; Bone and Bones - metabolism; Bones; Calcium; CARDIOVASCULAR AGENTS; CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM; Central Nervous System Diseases - etiology; Chemical hazards; Child; Child, Preschool; CHILDREN; DISEASES; DRUGS; ELEMENTS; Environmental Pollutants - poisoning; ENZYMES; GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; GLOBULINS; Humans; HYDROLASES; Infant; INFANTS; Kidney Diseases - etiology; KIDNEYS; LEAD; Lead - toxicity; Lead Poisoning - complications; Lead Poisoning - physiopathology; Lead Poisoning - psychology; Male; MATERIALS; METALS; NEOPLASMS; Neoplasms - etiology; NERVOUS SYSTEM; NERVOUS SYSTEM DISEASES; NONSPECIFIC PEPTIDASES; NUTRITION; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANS; PEPTIDE HYDROLASES; PROTEINS; RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT; RENIN; REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS; RISK ASSESSMENT; TOXICITY; Tumors; Twenty Years of Environmental Health Research; VASOCONSTRICTORS
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/ehp.93100177

Over the 20-year period since the first issue of Environmental Health Perspectives was published, there has been considerable progress in the understanding of the potential toxicity of exposure to lead. Many of these advances have been reviewed in published symposia, conferences, and review papers in EHP. This brief review identifies major advances as well as a number of current concerns that present opportunities for prevention and intervention strategies. The major scientific advance has been the demonstration that blood lead (PbB) levels of 10-15 μg/dL in newborn and very young infants result in cognitive and behavioral deficits. Further support for this observation is being obtained by prospective or longitudinal studies presently in progress. The mechanism(s) for the central nervous system effects of lead is unclear but involve lead interactions within calcium-mediated intracellular messenger systems and neurotransmission. Effects of low-level lead exposure on blood pressure, particularly in adult men, may be related to the effect of lead on calcium-mediated control of vascular smooth muscle contraction and on the renin-angiotensin system. Reproductive effects of lead have long been suspected, but low-level effects have not been well studied. Whether lead is a carcinogen or its association with renal adenocarcinoma is a consequence of cystic nephropathy is uncertain. Major risk factors for lead toxicity in children in the United States include nutrition, particularly deficiencies of essential metals, calcium, iron, and zinc, and housing and socioeconomic status. A goal for the year 2000 is to reduce prevalence of blood lead levels exceeding 15 μg/dL.