Micrograms per deciliter

The amount of total lead in the blood can be measured to determine if exposure to lead has occurred. This test can tell if you have been recently exposed to lead. Lead can be measured lead in teeth or bones by X-ray techniques, but these methods are not widely available. These tests tell about long-term exposures to lead. Exposure to lead can be evaluated by measuring erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP) in blood samples. EP is a part of red blood cells known to increase when the amount of lead in the blood is high. However, the EP level is not sensitive enough to identify children with elevated blood lead levels below about 25 micrograms per deciliter ( ig/dL). For this reason, the primary screening method is measurement of blood lead. For more information on tests to measure lead in the body, see Chapters 2 and 6. 

Signs of a low-grade deficiency in children are impaired learning capabihty, attention deficit, constipation, lethargy, and tired-ness.The same symptoms apply to adults. A laboratory blood test wiU show plasma iron of less than 40 micrograms per deciliter... 

So if your local city or county average is 10 units (or io micrograms per deciliter), and your child has a BLL of io units, it s likely your child already has an intelligence quotient (IQ) deficit of 7.4 points compared to a child with a BLL of only... 

Other possible prenatal factors are neurotoxins Although there has been too little research examining schizophrenia as a possible outcome of fetal lead exposure, it has been proposed that fetal blood levels of lead greater than 15 units (micrograms per deciliter) may double the risk of childhood or adult schizophrenia spectrum disorder.39Another important possibility is that prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors, such as bis-phenol-A (a polymer environmental pollutant present in many plastic consumer products) can be involved in the etiology of schizophrenia.40 Past research has indeed demonstrated endocrine and neuroendocrine abnormalities in schizophrenics.41... 

Caimey, S., P. Maruff, C.B. Bums, J. Currie and B.J. Currie. (2005) Neurological and cognitive recovery following abstinence from petrol sniffing. Neuropsychopharmacol. 30 1019-1027 Canfield, R.L., C.R. Henderson, D.A. Cory-Slechta, C. Cox, J.A. Jusko and B.P. Lanphear. (2003) Intellectual impairment in children with blood lead concentrations below 10 micrograms per deciliter. N. Engl. J. Med. 348 1517-1526... 

Five years later, in 1982, Johnson Controls shifted from a policy of warning to a policy of exclusion. Between 1979 and 1983, eight employees became pregnant while maintaining 1200 blood lead levels in excess of 30 micrograms per deciliter. Tr. of Oral Arg. 25,34. This appeared to be the critical level 192 noted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSH A) for a worker who was planning to have a family. See 29 CFR 1910.1025 (1990). The company responded by announcing a broad exclusion of women from jobs that exposed them to lead ... 

The policy defined women. .. capable of bearing children as [a]ll women except those whose inability to bear children is medically documented. Id., at 81. It further stated that an unacceptable work station was one where, over the past year, an employee had recorded a blood lead level of more than 30 micrograms per deciliter or the work site had yielded an air sample containing a lead level in excess of 30 micrograms per cnbic meter. Ibid. 

Lead is a very, very strong poison. An extremely small amount of lead can cause serious harm to a child. The blood concentration of lead that might cause coma, convulsions, and even death in children is 100 micrograms per deciliter. This is comparable to half of a drop of a contaminant in a bathtub full of water. Even concentrations of lead in the blood that are 1/lOth that strong, or equivalent to l/20th of a drop of a contaminant in a bathtub full of water, have been found to be associated with detectable damage to the development of the brain. 

The most alarming danger of lead is the damage it can do to a child s developing brain and nervous system. Even amounts of lead that were considered harmless a few years ago have been shown in scientific studies to cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems. A number of studies have found that for each 10 micrograms per deciliter over the threshold of 10 or 15 micrograms per deciliter of lead in a child s blood,... 

At higher levels, additional physiological symptoms can occur. At over 50 micrograms per deciliter a child can suffer from colic. Possible kidney damage should be evaluated when a child has such an elevated blood lead level. Although mild anemia is observed at lower blood lead levels, it can be more serious at over 70 micrograms per deciliter, and is aggravated by medical treatment (chelation therapy). 

Thanks to broad screening and increased awareness of lead poisoning and its causes, in only a small fraction of a percent of cases of lead poisoning—those with extremely high levels of lead (over 80—150 micrograms per deciliter)—does a child go into convulsions or a coma. Although this condition of lead encephalopathy, untreated, usually leads to death, since the 1950s medical treatment with chelation therapy has reduced the mortality rate to 1-2% in even these extremely rare cases. ... 

Even if a child is never exposed to a single large dose of lead, all of the tiny amounts a child is exposed to can add up to trouble. For instance, the average child living in a town near a smelter may have a blood-lead level of 8 micrograms per deciliter from exposure to emissions. A relatively small exposure to lead paint, therefore, will bring his or her blood lead level over the threshold of concern of 10 micrograms per deciliter. Likewise, a child who drinks lead-contaminated water will be much more likely to suffer toxic effects if exposed later to lead-contaminated soil or dust. 

Class I—Blood lead level 0-9 micrograms per deciliter ( xg/dl)... 

Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the residential use of lead-based paint in 1978, millions of children remain at risk for exposure to lead from deteriorating paint in older homes. Lead poisoning is especially harmful to children under the age of 5 years because it interferes with growth and development and it has been shown to lower IQ. Symptoms of chronic exposure to lead include diminished appetite, nausea, malaise, and convulsions. Blood lead level fBLL), expressed as micrograms per deciliter (p.g/dL), is used to monitor the effect of chronic exposure. A BLL < 10 p.g/dL is considered normal a BLL > 45 xg/dL requires medical and environmental intervention. At high levels (>70 p.g/dL), lead can cause seizures, coma, and death. 

Sodium is measured in grams per liter of amniotic fluid potassium, calcium, and magnesium are measured in milligrams per liter iron, copper, zinc, selenium, cadmium, and lead are measured in micrograms per deciliter (ng/dl). 

The current level of concern set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is 5 micrograms per deciliter (pg/dL) blood. 

First, however, how much lead is safe in the human body The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that a blood lead level of 10 micrograms per deciliter (usually abbreviated as pg/dl) or greater in children is cause for concern 25 pg/dl in adults. 

What levels of lead are normal in humans The GDC has established a level of 10 pg/dl (micrograms per deciliter) as a point at which we should begin to be concerned or, if found in children, should investigate. It simply means they do not know, and the effects of lead are insidious. 

---