Lead toxicity

Lead Poisoning Causes 400,000 Deaths Annually

Each year, more than 400,000 deaths in the United States are attributed to lead poisoning, according to results of a new study.

Although lead poisoning is an important risk factor for mortality related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and ischemic heart disease, little is known about how many deaths are attributed to lead poisoning.

_________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Lead Toxicity in a Young Boy
Lead Poisoning: Perinatal Lead Toxicity From a Lead-containing Teapot
_________________________________________________________________________

To conduct their study, the researchers examined data from 14,289 adults aged 20 years or older who had participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III) between 1988 and 1994.

After follow-up ended on December 31, 2011, the researchers found that 4422 participants had died—1801 from CVD-related causes and 988 from ischemic heart disease.in text quote

Overall, 3632 participants had a concentration of lead in their blood of at least 5 μg/dL.

An increase in the concentration of lead in the blood from 1.0 μg/dL (10th percentile) to 6.7 μg/dL (90th percentile) was associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.37), cardiovascular disease mortality (HR, 1.70), and ischemic heart disease mortality (HR, 2.08).

The researchers found that if lead in the blood levels were reduced to 1.0 μg/dL, the all-cause mortality rate would drop by 18%—or 412,000 deaths annually. CVD-related mortality would drop by 28.7% annually, and ischemic heart disease mortality would drop by 37.4% annually.

“Low-level environmental lead exposure is an important, but largely overlooked, risk factor for cardiovascular disease mortality in the [United States],” the researchers concluded. “A comprehensive strategy to prevent deaths from cardiovascular disease should include efforts to reduce lead exposure.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Lanphear BP, Rauch S, Auinger P, Allen RW, Hornung RW. Low-level lead exposure and mortality in US adults: a population-based cohort study [published online March 12, 2018]. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(18)30025-2.