Literature Review: Physiological Effects of Lead

Sydney Adams
Cheyenne Benson
Carey Meredith
Haley Nartker
Joseph Rodriguez
Alex T. Smith

Pathways: Alex T.
Although lead in gasoline and lead in diet are two factors that have been completely eliminated
in America and over all the average blood lead levels of children have declined, it is unclear
whether the mechanisms of lead exposure have also changed (Lanphear & Roghmann 1997). It is
clear that lead has many negative effects on the development of young children but the way that
pathways of lead exposure in young individuals were once unknown, and today can still remain
somewhat unclear.
Lanphear and Roghmann investigate various pathways of lead exposure into young urban
children. They determined that the amount of lead in dust were significantly connected to the
childrens blood lead levels. Both soil and plant lead contributed to dust lead however the most
significant factor that led to high dust lead levels was in fact lead paint. They found that
contaminated soil could enter the body directly through children who spent time outdoors or
even had the nasty habit of eating dirt, as well as indirectly if contaminated soul was tracked

through the house. Their findings indicated that mouthing habits are a big pathway of exposure,
due to the fact that children will often put their hands into their mouths, and any lead that may
have been on their hands would have a direct line to the blood stream through mouth capillaries.
In conclusion the main pathways of lead exposure seem to stem from childrens mouthing habits
and the existence of lead in paint or lead contaminated soil in or around where a child may play.
These pathways, now that they are clearly known may be monitored or even mitigated.

Kidneys: Cheyenne

Numerous research over the decade has revealed that lead, even in levels once considered
miniscule, lead can have detrimental effects on the bodys systems. Most commonly, the brain
and sometimes the bones are the subject of investigation into lead poisoningand since lead can
be detected through blood testing, blood gets investigation as well. But a lesser-thought of (yet
still affected) body part still suffers from lead poisoning: the kidneys suffer from nephrotoxicity
when blood lead levels are high. Even looking back to a time in history when the effects of lead
were not as well-known and the typical blood lead levels would be considered abnormally high
for our time, lead exposure was the topic of discussion in the renal sense (Radoevi, ari,
Beriti, Kneevi, 1961). While the link between lead exposure and what exactly occurs in the
kidneys remains unclear, there is an established correlation between lead exposure and impaired
kidney function (typically lesions).
A study from the 1960s revealed an association between impaired renal function indicative of
lesions and high concentrations of lead in a subjects environment. This article expounds upon
the confusion on the relation between lead poisoning. According to this article, the relation
between lead poisoning and specific types of lesions in the kidney of any kind is shaky
(Radoevi et. al., 1961). While the study found a definitive correlation between higher levels of
lead poisoning and renal damage, it could not prove the existence of any one condition
definitively linked to lead exposure in the kidneys (nephropathia saturnina, an apparently
fictional condition in the kidneys caused specifically by lead exposure, for example).

More recently, a correlation was demonstrated between workers exposed to high levels of lead
and possible nephrotoxicity (though readings indicated an overall lower-than-normal state of
kidney health, some results still overlapped with accepted ranges) (Rastogi, 2008). This article
emphasized the main point that lead poisoning can be detected in the kidneys (contributing to
nephrotoxicity, when heavy metals get in to the kidneys). While it is well known that lead has
negative effects in the brain and bones, it can also be detrimental to renal health. Lead exposure
manifests itself differently in the kidneys of children and adults. Children typically experience
proximal renal tubular damage, which is reversible, but adults suffering from lead exposure
(either in their adult life or in childhood) can have more severe impairments, like renal failure
(Rastogi, 2008). There is a correlation between the period of exposure to lead in humans and the
levels of nephrotoxicity, proving that lead travels to and harms the kidneys. With prolonged
exposure, lead exposure can cause glomerular sclerosis and chronic interstitial inflammation
accompanied by decreased glomerular filtration, basically implying severely dysfunctional
kidneys.
The research is well-founded and the studys methodology sound. Due to small sample sizes (not
by any fault of the researcher) data may be skewed, but the overall findings of the study should
not be vastly incorrect.

Blood: Joseph Rodriguez

It has been detected that having an iron deficiency in your blood can increase blood lead levels.
Children living in rural areas, had more of a blood lead level then children living in modern cities
where they didnt have lead pipes. Foods that families buy can also be a factor, because the
quality of the food will determine whether the food is proficient in iron or not. The affects for
lead contamination would include cognitive deficits, neurotoxicity, behavior disorders, slowed
growth, reduced heme synthesis and impaired hearing. To prevent the growth of lead
contamination by taking iron pills.

Comparison of Tissues: Haley

Based on research from multiple variables from age and gender, multiple conclusions were made
about the concentration of lead in human body tissues. In the British Journal of Industrial
Medicine entry, A comparison of concentrations of lead in human tissues, The author found from
the experiment he conducted with men, women, children, and infants that lead it retained in the
dense bones of the body and does not become available for subsequent release. The authors also
found that the concentrations of lead in the majority of the soft tissues appeared to achieve
equilibrium during the second decade of life in both sexes and thereafter were maintained,
irrespective of age or of concentrations of lead in bones. In their study, their findings suggested
that the immature skeletal structure of children is less able to absorb and retain lead that is the
mature dense bone adults. Another finding was that the facility of lead for absorption onto
keratin together with the presence of sulphydril groups in hair which have a strong affinity for
lead would argue that the lead present in the atmosphere, much greater in a lead industry than in
the general ambient air, may have contributed directly to the concentrations of lead that were
found. From what we know now, lead affects infants, children, and teens far differently than
adults. Lead is also absorbed much more easily through keratin than through skin.

Brain and Behavior:

JTCMeredith
Low-Level Lead Exposure and the IQ of Children
A Meta-analysis of Modern Studies
This article states that low-level lead exposure is casually associated with deficits in intelligence.
Children that show prior deficits tend to teeth on items with more lead in them. When children
ingest lead, but not enough to show physical symptoms, the intelligence of the child often
associated with this. The meta-analysis determined the there is a strong connection between lowlevel lead doses and intelligence deficit in children.

Bone: Sydney

In the article, bone lead generally increases with age and takes a very long time to leave the body;
one half-life of bone lead is 5-19 years. This reflects the long skeletal half-life. Bone lead rates are
different for every person based on age and occupation. The information is measured using
toxickinetics, which traces and measures substances in the body, such as lead. The lead can be
found in three parts of the lead; the deeper the lead in the bone, the longer it takes to come out,
more specifically the crystal surface. In the crystal surface, it becomes firmly buried and must await
osteoplastic surface turnover. Turnover, or bone metabolism, is when bone replaces itself by
replacing old bone with newer bone. Turnover can also lead to multipool bone lead. Multipool
bone or multiple bone pool, is exposure that leads to flood to bone, to slow bone, to very slow
bone, then goes in reverse back to flood and finally urinary output.
In an article about the L-line x-ray fluorescence (LXRF), the development of L-line x-ray created a
new, safer method of measuring bone lead. Doing tests with children using the L-line x-ray and the
CaNa2EDTA showed 90 percent of lead-toxic children were able to be classified positive or
negative. The tests showed 76 percent of 59 children had bone lead levels higher than the normal
adult limit. The results also suggest that the bone levels proved that there were insufficient safety
created by the U.S. guidelines which classify an unsafe level of bone lead at 25 dl or greater.