Lead Poisoning Remains a Global Threat to Humans and Animals
March 20, 2013- While the U.S. has successfully reduced environmental lead levels in recent decades, lead poisoning remains a global threat, reports The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Developing countries must "develop the leadership … to disseminate information about lead safety concern," said Mary Jean Brown, Chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Healthy Homes/Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch.
The CDC's Childhood Lead Poisoning Data, Statistics & Surveillance report compiles state surveillance data for children age <72 months who were tested for lead at least once since January 1, 1997.
Areas of major concern are the recycling of lead acid batteries and consumer products containing recycled lead finding their way into international markets.
Additionally, because lead is spread through the atmosphere, areas where lead contamination has been greatly reduced still face lead toxicity released into the environment.
Reduction of environmental lead in the U.S. has been linked to a decrease in violent crime, as lead poisoning permanently damages the brain's pre-frontal cortex. "Children who grow up in areas with high soil lead are both less successful in school and more aggressive later in life," said Howard Mielke, profession of pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine.
Forbes recently published an article entitled, "How Lead Caused America's Violent Crime Epidemic," though Discover magazine concludes the science is still out.
The release goes on to report that "persistence of lead poisoning in the United States is underscored by results in animals," with advocates calling for legislation to reduce the lead in hunting and fishing equipment. A study on lead exposure in both plants and animals can be found here.
The World Health Organization (WHO) offers a lengthy study of Childhood Lead Poisoning; The LEAD Group Incorporated has published an article on "Green Lead: Oxymoron or Future Vision?"; and the Journal of Health and Pollution maps global environmental lead poisoning in children.