Concentrations in Environmental Media Relevant to Human Lead Exposures

Lead Concentrations in Environmental Media Relevant to Human Lead Exposures 

Lead s behavior as a multimedia pollutant poses problems for human health risk assessment and regulatory science at several levels, a number of which are presented in detail in later chapters. First, it is important to establish the full extent of lead exposures of human populations, especially those subsets of the population at elevated risk for exposure and/or harm. Establishing the extent of exposure mainly includes identifying and quantifying lead intakes and uptakes into the human body. 

Trace Metals and other Contaminants in the Environment, Volume 10 ISSN 1875-1121 DOI 10.1016/B978-0-444-51554-4.00006-7 

This chapter examines the levels of lead in environmental media with which human populations interact by such means as ingestion and inhalation. Quantification of lead levels in media not only applies to the ongoing and near-term case, but also requires a depiction of the environmental lead picture over population lifetimes. If lead deposited in bone 30 years ago can be released and produce harm, one needs to evaluate as best as possible the magnitude of lead intakes via various media 30 years ago. This would particularly be the case in attempting predictive modeling of lead exposures that occurred decades ago. 

For measuring lead in environmental media providing potential human lead exposures, this chapter includes older published data for lead concentrations in media, data which are old enough to encompass the full lifetimes of living populations. This is because of long-term Pb storage in bone. One concern with any appraisal of older lead measurement data in media is that of analytical and statistical data reliability versus that of methods employed with more recent accepted techniques. Sensitivity is of particular concern. A potent toxicant such as environmental lead requires methods for quantification of concentrations of lead at ultra-trace levels in order to permit estimates of the full range of Pb exposures. 

---