Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T05:21:40.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Human exposure to lead and new evidence of adverse health effects: Implications for analytical measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2012

Patrick J. Parsons  and
Kathryn G. McIntosh
Patrick J. Parsons*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, Albany, New York
Kathryn G. McIntosh
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, Albany, New York
*
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Lead poisoning is a preventable condition caused by exposure to environmental sources such as lead-containing dust or lead-painted consumer products. The history of lead poisoning prevention has been defined to some extent by the quality of the analytical methods available for lead measurements whether in environmental samples or biological tissues and fluids. The quality of blood lead methods has improved so greatly over the last three decades that we now know far more about the adverse health effects from low-level exposures. Recent evidence suggests that effects such as deficit in IQ occur below the current (periodically revised) U.S. CDC threshold of 10 μg/dL, such that no safe threshold appears to exist for children. Improvements in analytical techniques have also had an impact on the environmental measurement quality, yet many environmental thresholds have remained unchanged for decades. In light of our current understanding of the adverse health effects at low levels of exposure, new thresholds for lead in children’s products have been introduced by the U.S. CPSC. The adequacy of current analytical techniques to detect lead accurately at the new, lower thresholds is questionable. XRF offers the advantage of being rapid and nondestructive compared to techniques such as AAS that require extensive sample preparation. However, the accuracy of handheld XRF determinations of lead in painted toys is generally limited. A brief comparative study on the performance of several analytical techniques for the determination of lead in toys is presented at the end of this paper.

Keywords

lead poisoningenvironmental contaminantblood lead levelIQXRF
Type
Technical Articles
Information
Powder Diffraction , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 175 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

110th Congress. (2008). Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (Public law 110-314, H.R. 4040). 〈http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf〉.Google Scholar
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (1988). The Nature and Extent of Lead Poisoning in Children in the United States: A Report to Congress (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta).Google Scholar
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (1999). Toxicological Profile for Lead (Update) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta).Google Scholar
Ashley, K., Hunter, M., Tait, L. H., Dozier, J., Seaman, J. L., and Berry, P. F. (1998). “Field investigation of on-site techniques for the measurement of lead in paint films,” Field Anal. Chem. Technol. FACTFR 2, 39–50.10.1002/(SICI)1520-6521(1998)2:1<39::AID-FACT5>3.0.CO;2-93.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellinger, D. C. and Needleman, H. L. (2003). “Intellectual impairment and blood lead levels,” N. Engl. J. Med. NEJMAG 349, 500–502.10.1056/NEJM200307313490515Google ScholarPubMed
Canfield, R. L., Henderson, C. R., Cory-Slechta, D. A., Cox, C., Jusko, T. A., and Lanphear, B. P. (2003). “Intellectual impairment in children with blood lead concentrations below 10 μg per deciliter,” N. Engl. J. Med. NEJMAG 348, 1517–1526.10.1056/NEJMoa022848CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1991). Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta).Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2005). Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta).Google Scholar
Consumer Product Safety Commission. (2009). Standard operating procedure for determining lead (Pb) in paint and other similar surface coatings (Test method: CPSC-CH-E1003-09). 〈http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/CPSC-CH-E1003-09.pdf〉.Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency. (1995). “A field test of lead-based paint testing technologies: Summary report,” Report No. EPA 747-R-95-002a, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, Washington.Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency. (2001). “Lead; identification of dangerous levels of lead; final rule. 40 CFR part 745,” Fed. Regist. FEREAC 66, 1206–1240.Google Scholar
ESA Magellan Biosciences. (2008). LeadCare II waived (product literature). 〈http://www.esainc.com/docs/spool/70-7056_POL_LeadCare_II_RevE.pdf〉.Google Scholar
Gibson, W. M., Chen, Z. W., and Li, D. (2008). “High definition X-ray fluorescence: Applications,” X-Ray Optics and Instrumentation 2008, 1–17.10.1155/2008/709692CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godoi, Q., Santos, D. Jr., Nunes, L. C., Leme, F. O., Rufini, I. A., Agnelli, J. A. M., Trevizan, L. C., and Krug, F. J. (2009). “Preliminary studies of laser-induced breakdown spectrometry for the determination of Ba, Cd, Cr and Pb in toys,” Spectrochim. Acta, Part A SAMCAS 64, 573–581.10.1016/j.sab.2009.05.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanphear, B. P., Dietrich, K., Auinger, P., and Cox, C. (2000). “Cognitive deficits associated with blood lead concentration <10 μg/dL in U.S. children and adolescents,” Public Health Rep. ZZZZZZ 115, 521–529.10.1093/phr/115.6.521CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. (1985). Lead poisoning: A historical perspective. EPA Journal. 〈http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/lead.htm〉.Google Scholar
Marquardt, B. J., Goode, S. R., and Angel, S. M. (1996). “In situ determination of lead in paint by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using a fiber-optic probe,” Anal. Chem. ANCHAM 68, 977–981.10.1021/ac950828hCrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntosh, K., Orsini, J. P., Smith, R., Yang, K. X., Aldous, K. M., and Parsons, P. J. (2009). “Measuring lead content in children’s toys: Comparing XRF with other atomic spectrometric methods,” The 58th Annual Denver X-ray Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado, abstract number F-85.Google Scholar
Palmer, C. D., Lewis, M. E. Jr., Geraghty, C. M., Barbosa, F. Jr., and Parsons, P. J. (2006). “Determination of lead, cadmium and mercury in blood for assessment of environmental exposure: A comparison between inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry,” Spectrochim. Acta, Part B SAASBH 61, 980–990.10.1016/j.sab.2006.09.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, P. J., Bellis, D. J., Hetter, K. M., Geraghty, C., Berglind, N. A., Ginde, N. R., Mata, P., and Todd, A. C. (2008). “An interlaboratory comparison of bone lead measurements via K -shell X-ray fluorescence,” X-Ray Spectrom. XRSPAX 37, 76–83.10.1002/xrs.1004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, P. J., Geraghty, C., and Verostek, M. F. (2001). “An assessment of contemporary atomic spectroscopic techniques for the determination of lead in blood and urine matrices,” Spectrochim. Acta, Part B SAASBH 56, 1593–1604.10.1016/S0584-8547(01)00261-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, P. J., Reilly, A. A., and Esernio-Jenssen, D. (1997). “Screening children exposed to lead: An assessment of the capillary blood lead fingerstick test,” Clin. Chem. CLCHAU 43, 302–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parsons, P. J. and Slavin, W. (1993). “A rapid Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of lead in blood,” Spectrochim. Acta, Part B SAASBH 48, 925–939.10.1016/0584-8547(93)80094-BCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roda, S. M., Greenland, R. D., Bornschein, R. L., and Hammond, P. B. (1988). “Anodic stripping voltammetry procedure modified for improved accuracy of blood lead analysis,” Clin. Chem. CLCHAU 34, 563–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schroeder, H. A. and Tipton, I. H. (1968). “The human body burden of lead,” Arch. Environ. Health AEHLAU 17, 965–978.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sterling, D. A., Lewis, R. D., Luke, D. A., and Shadel, B. N. (2000). “A portable X-ray fluorescence instrument for analyzing dust wipe samples for lead: Evaluation with field samples,” Environ. Res. ENVRAL 83, 174–179.10.1006/enrs.2000.4058CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verishinin, A. G., Cusack, M., Li, D., Gibson, W., McIntosh, K., Parsons, P. J., Altkorn, B., and Chan, N. (2009). “Comparative measurements of secondary standards for paint layers on plastic and glass substrates,” The 58th Annual Denver X-ray Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado, abstract number F-38.Google Scholar
Weidenhamer, J. D. (2009). “Lead contamination of inexpensive seasonal and holiday products,” Sci. Total Environ. STENDL 407, 2447–2450.10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.11.031CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
X-Ray Optical Systems, Inc. (2009). HD 1000 data sheet (product literature). 〈http://www.xos.com/wp-content/uploads/HD%20Spectroscopy%20sngl%20pgs.pdf〉.Google Scholar
Ziegler, E. E., Edwards, B. B., and Jensen, R. L. (1978). “Absorption and retention of lead by infants,” Pediatr. Res. PEREBL 12, 29–34.10.1203/00006450-197801000-00008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed