A urine lead test measures lead excretion from the body over 24 hours, It may be done both before and after a “provocation” compound is ingested. A provocation compound increases the excretion of a substance.
Taking the urine lead test before the provocation compound is ingested has been shown to cause the excretion of lead in the urine whether or not there are high levels of lead in the body. When the provocation compound is consumed, there will be an increase in the amount of lead in the urine of up to six times the normal unprovoked level. Therefore, the level is set high – at >125 mcg for a 24-hour collection. A blood test for lead is the most accurate test for lead in the body.
Pregnant women may experience premature birth and the birth of low birth weight babies or babies with developmental problems if their lead levels are high. Lead crosses the placenta and deposits into the developing child. In adults, there are effects on the heart, kidneys, and on reproduction.
Normal Ranges for Lead in mcg/sample urine collection in 24 hours:
All ages: 0-4 mcg/specimen is normal excretion without provocation compound. With the provocation compound ingested, a level of <125 mcg lead excreted in the urine in a 24-hour sample is not associated with significant lead exposure.
Critical Range: >125 mcg lead excretion in a 24-hour sample is associated with lead toxicity symptoms.
Sources:
- https://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-catalog/Clinical+and+Interpretive/8600
- https://www.healthlabs.com/lead-testing-urine
- https://www.epa.gov/lead/learn-about-lead
- https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/publications/leadandpregnancy2010.pdf
Low lead levels are never a health issue.
Understand and improve your laboratory results with our health dashboard.
Upload your lab reports and get your interpretation today.
Our technology helps to understand, combine, track, organize, and act on your medical lab test results.
High levels of lead in the body cause toxic effects on the nervous system and in the kidneys. They also interfere with the synthesis of heme in the body. Depending on how high the levels of lead are, the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc may become impaired. Lead also causes negative effects on memory and thinking processes, and how nerves work in the body.
Children, babies and pregnant women are most at risk for developing health problems due to lead accumulation. In children, anemia, hearing problems, stunted growth, low IQ, hyperactivity, behavior problems and learning problems are frequently correlated with higher levels of lead in the body.
Some specific causes of high urine lead levels might be associated with:
- PICA, the compulsive eating of items such as high-lead paint chips (especially paint used in homes before 1978)
- The consumption of contaminated water, such as from lead pipes that leach the toxic element
- High levels of lead in breast milk, passed on to the infant
- Eating acidic foods on lead-glazed ceramic pottery, especially pottery from Mexico
- The use of contaminated Ayurvedic, Chinese or Indian herbs in any form
- Contaminated toys
- Consumption of chapulines (grasshoppers) from Mexico, as discovered by the California Department of Health Services in 2003.
- Regular ingestion of game meat whereby hunters used lead ammunition
- Hobbies such as hunting, target practice, stained glass creation, casting bronzes, refinishing furniture, jewelry making, electronics, and glass-blowing.
- Living near or working in a lead mine, smelter, or battery-recycling plant or with someone who works in the lead industry
- Drinking beverages such as wine from leaded crystal glasses
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get Started
Monthly plan
Annual plan
Own it for life
Our exclusive data entry service is a convenient way to get your results into your private dashboard. Simply attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and one of our qualified data entry team members will add the results for you. We support all sorts of files, whether PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is excellent whether you have a lot of reports to upload or are too busy to do the data entry yourself.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
$15 /month
billed every month
Most popular
Data entry included
$79 /year
$6.60/month billed annually
Data entry included
$250 /once
own it for life
Are You a Health Professional?
Get started with our professional plan
Welcome to Healthmatters Pro.
Save time on interpreting lab results with the largest database of biomarkers online. In-depth research on any test at your fingertips, all stored and tracked in one place. Learn more
Pro Monthly Plus
for health professionals
$75 per month
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
Albumin, 24 Hour Urine, Albumin, Urine, Alpha-1-Globulin, Urine, Alpha-2-Globulin, Urine, Appearance, Arsenic (Inorganic), Urine, Arsenic (Total), Urine, Arsenic, Urine 24 Hr, Bacteria, Beta Globulin, Urine, Bilirubin, Urine, Cadmium, Urine, Calcium Oxalate Crystals, Calcium, Urine, Calcium, Urine 24hr, Chloride, Urine, Color, Coproporphyrin I, Coproporphyrin III, Creatinine (CRT), Urine, Creatinine, Ur 24hr, Gamma Globulin, Urine, Glucose Qualitative, Urine, Heptacarboxyporphyrin, Hexacarboxyporphyrin, Hyaline Cast, Iodine, 24 Hr Urine, IODINE, RANDOM URINE, Iodine, Urine, Ketones, Urine, Lead, 24 hour urine, Lead, Urine, Leukocyte Esterase, Urine, M-Spike (Urine), Mercury, Urine, Mercury, Urine 24 Hr, Mercury/Creatinine Ratio, Urine, Mucus, Nitrite, Urine, Pentacarboxyporphyrin, Polymorphs, Porphyrins, Potassium, Urine, Protein, 24hr calculated (Urine), Protein/Creat Ratio, Pus Cells, Red Blood Cells (RBC), Urine, Sodium, Urine, Squamous Epithelial Cells, Total Porphyrins, Total Protein, Urine, Tripelphosphates, urine qualitative, Urine Occult Blood, Urine pH, Urine Specific Gravity, Urobilinogen Bilirubin, Urine, Uroporphyrin I, Uroporphyrin III, White Blood Cells (WBC), Urine
