Damages the nervous system: lead is found in the blood of half of US children

About half of young children tested for lead had detectable levels of the toxic metal in their blood, according to a new study. Than it threatens, the publication said Medical Xpress.

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Most of the children had relatively small amounts of lead in their blood. But almost 2% of those surveyed showed a high content of it. The study examined over 1,1 million children under the age of 6 who were tested for lead from October 2018 to February 2020.

The results are likely to cause public health concerns in the US, especially amid fears that lead exposure may worsen during a pandemic. In addition, it will raise questions about the significance of the lower levels of its content.

“The overall picture is that children lead the U.S. in lead poisoning,” said Morrie Markowitz, who directs the lead poisoning prevention and treatment program at Children's Hospital at Montefiore and was not involved in the study. “There can’t be a level too low for lead.” We need absolute zero."

Children are exposed to lead in the environment, often through lead paint in older homes. Other sources include lead pipes that carry water to homes and lead in outdoor soil. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no known safe lead level in blood.

It is known that this element causes irreversible damage to young children, whose body grows and develops. It damages the brain and nervous system and creates problems with learning, behavior, hearing and speech.

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According to Harvey Kaufman, co-author of the study, the new test is the first study of low blood lead levels in children, made possible by more sensitive technologies. Kaufman is the senior medical director of Quest Diagnostics Inc., which performed the testing for the study.

Scientists expected some children to have detectable amounts of lead in their blood, but they "were surprised that this was half of all children tested," he said.

The study authors found, among other things, an association between lead exposure and poverty, older housing, and predominantly black and Hispanic communities, which is broadly consistent with other leading studies.

“These results confirm that we still have a long way to go to end lead poisoning in the United States,” wrote Philip Landrigan and David Bellinger. They said this "underscores the urgent need to eliminate all sources of lead exposure."

The Joe Biden administration's plan to replace lead pipes as part of a broader infrastructure package is an important step, but it must be accompanied by the removal of lead paint from US homes, which they say "remains a major source of lead exposure for children."

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As a group of researchers found in 2017, protecting children from lead exposure could save US $ 84 billion for children born in 2018 in economic and public health benefits.

Previous CDC research has shown that nearly 2,5% of young children in the United States have blood lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter or higher. The CDC began using the threshold in 2012 as a so-called benchmark to identify children and guide families in taking action to reduce lead levels.

A new study by JAMA Pediatrics found, among other things, that 1,9% of children tested had a blood lead level of 5 micrograms per deciliter or more. About 50,5% of the children had detectable lead levels, mostly between 1 and 2 micrograms per deciliter.

Kaufman said the group tested was "fairly representative" of the US, although he noted that there was some selection bias about how the doctor ordered lead testing.

According to the study, only 18 states and the District of Columbia require health care providers to see either all children or high-risk children, while the rest have only recommendations.

The overall exposure of children to lead has decreased significantly over time, including through measures such as the federal ban on the use of lead paint in 1978. Children's blood lead levels fell by about 95% between the late 1970s and 2011 to 2016, researchers previously found.

“There is lead in the environment, and it persists,” said Markowitz of Montefiore Children's Hospital. “And although the situation in terms of the amount of lead is much better than 50 years ago, it is still there.”

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