Lead Poisoning

Lanphear, Bruce M.D., M.P.H.
Navas-Acien, Ana M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Bellinger, David C. Ph.D.

From the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada (B.L.); the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York (A.N.-A.); and the Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, and Boston Children's Hospital — both in Boston (D.C.B.).

C. Corey Hardin, M.D., Ph.D., Editor

Dr. Lanphear can be contacted at [email protected] or at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

New England Journal of Medicine 391(17):p 1621-1631, October 31, 2024. | DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra2402527

Key Points

Lead Poisoning

Lead exposure among people in the United States has declined by more than 95% since the 1970s, but the body lead burden is still 10 to 100 times as high as the lead burden in humans who lived in preindustrial times.
Studies conducted over the past 40 years have established that chronic, low-level lead poisoning is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adults and cognitive deficits in children, even at levels previously thought to be safe or innocuous.
Lead exposure is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease and preterm births at concentrations commonly found in people today.
In 2019, lead exposure accounted for 5.5 million deaths from cardiovascular disease and an annual loss of 765 million IQ points in children globally.
The steep decrease in IQ and the sharp increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, even at the lowest measurable blood lead concentrations, coupled with ubiquitous exposure, indicate that population strategies are critical for eliminating lead poisoning.

Lead Poisoning

Chronic lead poisoning, even at low levels, is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adults and cognitive deficits in children. The authors review the effects of chronic, low-level lead poisoning.