Home > Health & Wellness > Health Library > Lead Poisoning
Lead poisoning occurs
when you absorb too much lead by breathing or swallowing a substance with lead
in it, such as paint, dust, water, or food. Lead can damage almost every organ system.
In children, too much lead in the body can cause
lasting problems with growth and development. These can affect behavior, hearing, and learning and can slow the child's growth.
In adults, lead poisoning can damage the brain and nervous system, the stomach, and the kidneys. It can also cause high blood pressure and other health problems.
Although it isn't normal to have lead in your body, a small amount is
present in most people. Environmental laws have reduced lead exposure in the
United States, but it is still a health risk, especially for young
Lead poisoning is
usually caused by months or years of exposure to small amounts of lead at home,
work, or day care. It can also happen very quickly with exposure to a large amount of lead. Many things can contain or be contaminated with lead: paint, air, water, soil, food, and manufactured goods.
The most common source of lead exposure for children is
lead-based paint and the dust and soil that are
contaminated by it. This can be a problem in older homes and buildings.
most often exposed to lead at work or while doing hobbies that involve lead.
poisoning can occur at any age, but children are most likely to be affected by high lead levels. Children at highest risk include
Others at risk for lead poisoning include people who:
You may not notice any symptoms at first. The effects are easy to miss and may seem related to other
conditions. The higher the amount of lead in the body, the more severe the symptoms are.
In children, symptoms can include:
lead poisoning can cause:
Severe cases can cause seizures, paralysis, and coma.
The doctor will ask questions and do a physical exam to look for signs of lead poisoning. If your doctor suspects lead poisoning, he or she will do a blood test to find out the amount of lead in the
Diagnosing lead poisoning is difficult, because the
symptoms can be caused by many diseases. Most children with lead poisoning don't have symptoms until their blood lead levels are very high.
In the United States, there are screening programs to check lead levels in children who are likely to be exposed to lead. Whether your child needs to be tested depends in part on where you live, how old your housing is, and other risk factors. Talk to your
child's doctor about whether your child is at risk and should be screened.
Adults usually aren't screened for lead poisoning unless they have a job that involves working with lead. For these workers, companies usually are required to provide testing.
If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and have a family
member who works with lead, you may want to ask your doctor about your risk for
lead poisoning. But in general, experts don't recommend routine testing for lead in pregnant women who don't have symptoms.2
Treatment for lead poisoning includes removing the source of lead, getting good nutrition, and, in some cases, having chelation therapy.
Removing the source of lead. Old paint chips and dirt are the most common sources of lead in the home. Lead-based paint, and the dirt and dust that come along with it, should be removed by professionals. In the workplace, removal usually means removing lead dust that's in the air and making sure that people don't bring contaminated dust or dirt on their clothing into their homes or other places.
Good nutrition. Eating foods that have enough iron and other vitamins and minerals may be enough to reduce lead levels in the
body. A person who eats a balanced, nutritious diet may absorb less lead than someone with a poor diet.
Chelation therapy. If removing the lead source and getting good nutrition don't work, or if lead levels are very high,
you may need to take chelating medicines. These medicines bind to lead in the body and help remove it.
If blood lead levels don't come down with treatment, home and work areas may need to be rechecked. Call your local health department to see what inspection services are offered in your area.
The best way to avoid lead poisoning is to prevent it. Treatment cannot reverse any damage that has already occurred. But there are many ways to reduce your exposure—and your child's—before it causes symptoms.
Learning about lead poisoning:
Committee on Environmental Health, American Academy of
Pediatrics (2005, reaffirmed 2009). Lead exposure in children: Prevention, detection, and
management. Pediatrics, 116: 1036–1046. Also available
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (2006). Screening for elevated blood lead levels in children and pregnant women. Available online: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspslead.htm.
Other Works Consulted
Woolf AD, et al. (2007). Update on the clinical
management of childhood lead poisoning. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 54(2): 271–294.
Binns HJ, et al. (2007). Interpreting and managing
blood lead levels of less than 10 mcg/dL in children and reducing childhood
exposure to lead: Recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention.
Pediatrics, 120(5): e1285–e1298.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2002). Managing elevated blood lead levels among young children: Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/CaseManagement/caseManage_main.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005). Preventing
lead poisoning in young children. Available online:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Lead in drinking water and human blood lead levels in the United States. MMWR, 61(Supplement): 1–9. Also available online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/ind2012_su.html.
Grandjean P (2008). Lead section of Health significance of metal
exposures. In RB Wallace, ed., Wallace/Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health and
Preventive Medicine, 15th ed., pp. 609–611. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Henretig FM (2009). Lead section of Toxins. In WB Carey et al., eds., Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, 4th ed., pp. 319–321. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.
Long H, Nelson LS (2011). Metals and metalloids. In JE Tintinalli, ed., Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 7th ed., pp. 1308–1315. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Markowitz M (2011). Lead poisoning. In RM Kliegman et al., eds., Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 19th ed., pp. 2448–2453. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Mcguigan MA (2012). Chronic poisoning: Trace metals and others. In L Goldman, A Shafer, eds., Goldman's Cecil Medicine, 24th ed., pp. 88–95. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Olsen KR (2012). Carbon monoxide section of
Poisoning. In SJ McPhee, MA Papadakis, eds., 2012 Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, 51st ed., pp. 1518–1547. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical.
Shannon MW (2007). Lead. In MW Shannon et al., eds.,
Haddad and Winchester's Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, 4th ed., pp. 1129–1146. Philadelphia: Saunders
U.S. Centers for Disease Control (2005). Blood lead
levels—United States, 1999–2002. MMWR, 54(20):
513–516. Also available online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5420a5.htm.
Woolfenden YB, et al. (2008). Household interventions for prevention of domestic lead exposure in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2).
Current as of:
August 5, 2013
John Pope, MD - Pediatrics & R. Steven Tharratt, MD, MPVM, FACP, FCCP - Pulmonology, Critical Care Medicine, Medical Toxicology
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