Lead

Overview

Lead has been used in gasoline, paint, plumbing pipes, ceramics, batteries, and cosmetics. Many of these uses now are regulated or banned, but lead remains in the environment. Lead exposure remains a significant public health concern because of persistent lead hazards in the environment.

Related Health Effects

No level of lead in the blood is safe, and exposure can have a wide range of effects in both children and adults. Serious health effects are associated with blood levels below 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), which is about equal to five specks of dust in a half cup of water. And even more health effects are associated with high blood lead levels at 10 µg/dL.

Health effects observed at 5 µg/dL:

Children

• Decreased academic achievement and lower IQ scores
• Behavioral problems and increased attention-related behaviors

Adults

• Maternal blood lead associated with reduced fetal growth
• Decreased kidney function

Additional health effects observed at 10 µg/dL:

Children

• Delayed puberty
• Reduced growth or height
• Lower IQ
• Decreased hearing

Adults

• Increased blood pressure and risk of hypertension
• Nerve problems and essential tremor
• Fertility problems

Risk Factors

Lead can get into your body when you eat it in food, drink it in water or breathe it in fumes or dust.

The main sources of lead include:

• Dust from old paint: Lead-based paint, now banned, was once commonly used in homes and buildings. Chips and flakes from this paint are still the most common source of lead exposure in the United States.
• Contaminated soil: Flakes of lead-based paint from older buildings can mix with the soil. Similarly, soil near roads often has higher levels of lead from car exhaust prior to the removal of lead from gasoline.
• Contaminated drinking water: Lead contamination in drinking water usually comes from pipes or plumbing lines that leach lead.

Most adults with high blood lead levels are exposed at work. Miners, iron workers, welders, and construction workers have a higher risk of exposure to lead on the job. Other workplaces with a greater chance for lead exposure include shooting ranges, battery disposal facilities, radiator repair shops, and pottery or stained-glass studios.

Children’s Health

Children face greater risk from lead for several reasons:

• Relative to their size, children eat, drink, and breathe more than adults. This increases their exposure to harmful substances.
• The body’s natural defense systems that filter and process chemicals are not fully mature in children.
• Children often play on the floor or ground and put objects in their mouths. This increases their contact with lead in dust and contaminated soil.
• During important growth periods, their development can be more easily disrupted by harmful chemicals.

Prevention Guidance

Laws to halt or reduce the use of lead in paints, gasoline, and water pipes have lowered the amount of lead in the environment. But much is still around us. You can take steps to reduce the risk of lead poisoning.

• If you live in an older house, ask your local health department to check for lead in the paint and dust.
• Test your drinking water for lead. Pipes or plumbing lines can leach lead.
• Check your products. Visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission website to see if any products you own have been recalled for containing lead.

Find Clinical Trials

Clinical trials uncover better ways to prevent, diagnose, treat, and understand diseases and conditions. To ensure results apply to everyone, volunteers of all ages, sexes, and backgrounds, including both healthy individuals and those with specific medical conditions, are needed. Find clinical trials on lead.

Community Support

• Lead in Food and Foodwares has information from the Food and Drug Administration
• The Consumer Product Safety Commission provides recall information for products containing lead.

Note: This resource list is for informational purposes only. It is not comprehensive, and an organization’s inclusion does not constitute an endorsement by NIH.  

Research Information

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. NIH invests most of its budget in medical research seeking to enhance life and to reduce illness and disability. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments helping people live longer, healthier lives, and building the research foundation that drives discovery.

NIH is funding small businesses and helping them find new ways to detect or prevent lead exposure. Some examples of innovative products include the following:

Detection

• A paper-based device that uses proteins to detect lead in water immediately without the need to send samples to a laboratory for testing.
• A handheld lead tester that easily and accurately measures lead in water, either dissolved or in particles.

Removal

• An environmentally friendly cleaning agent that can pull lead, uranium, and other minerals out of water that has been contaminated by mining.
• A small, home-sized water filter that uses electricity to pull lead out of drinking water right at the faucet.

Find NIH-funded research projects using NIH RePORTER, a searchable database of current and past research projects supported by NIH and other federal agencies.