SOURCES:
Found naturally in soil. More often found in fossil fuels, gasoline/exhaust, manufacturing, lead-acid batteries, ammunitions, metal solder and pipes, X-ray shields, paint, glass, pigments, and sheet lead.
NUTRIENT INTERACTIONS:
Iron and lead share a common transporter; therefore, iron deficiency increases lead absorption.
There is some evidence that higher amounts of dietary calcium are associated with lower blood lead levels.
Calcium and phosphorus supplementation decreases lead absorption and retention.
Selenium has been useful as an adjunct in chelation in lead intoxication.
Zinc deficiency enhances lead absorption and lead increases zinc excretion. Zinc supplementation decreases tissue lead accumulation.
Vitamin D increases lead absorption.
References:
- Yedjou CG, Patlolla AK, Sutton DJ. Heavy Metals Toxicity and the Environment Paul B Tchounwou. Published in final edited form as: EXS. 2012;3:133-164.
- Kordas K, Lonnerdal B, Stoltzfus RJ. Interactions between Nutrition and Environmental Exposures: Effects on Health Outcomes in Women and Children. J Nutr. 2007;137(12):2794-2797.
- Schwalfenberg GK, Genuis SJ. Vitamin D, Essential Minerals, and Toxic Elements: Exploring Interactions between Nutrients and Toxicants in Clinical Medicine. ScientificWorldJournal. 2015;2015:318595-318595.
- Goyer RA. Toxic and essential metal interactions. Ann Rev Nutr. 1997;17(1):37-50.
- Flora G, Gupta D, Tiwari A. Toxicity of lead: a review with recent updates. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2012;5(2):47-58.
- AOEC. Medical Management Guidelines for Lead-Exposed Adults. 2007. http://www.aoec.org/documents/positions/ MMG_FINAL.pdf. Accessed 2020.
- CDC. Recommended Actions Based on Blood Lead Level. Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention 2020; https://www.cdc.gov/ nceh/lead/advisory/acclpp/actions-blls.htm, 2020.
- Kosnett MJ, Wedeen RP, Rothenberg SJ, et al. Recommendations for medical management of adult lead exposure. Environ HealthPerspect.2007;115(3):463-471.
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.
PHYSIOLOGIC EFFECTS:
Mainly taken into the kidney, liver, and other soft tissues such as the heart and brain. However, lead in the skeleton is the major body fraction. The nervous system is a vulnerable target of lead toxicity.
Binds to sulfhydryl groups and amide groups of enzymes, diminishing their activity. This enzymatic inhibition can be seen in heme synthesis, neurotransmitter metabolism, and other sodium- dependent processes.
Produces reactive oxygen species, and competes with metallic cations for binding sites, altering the transport of cations such as calcium and interferes with calcium-dependent processes.
Lead replaces zinc on heme enzymes, and inhibits the enzyme needed to incorporate iron into the hemoglobin molecule by replacing iron. Copper and iron supplementation have been used to counter these heme synthesis effects.
Whole blood lead levels estimate recent exposure to lead, but it is also in equilibrium with bone lead stores.
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Headache, poor attention span, irritability, memory loss, and weakness are early CNS symptoms of exposure.
Reproductive effects, GI diseases, anemia, kidney damage, and adverse effects on vitamin D metabolism are also seen.
The CDC provides recommendations for follow-up and case management of children based on confirmed whole blood lead levels beginning at levels of 5 mcg/dL.
There are guidelines with specific cut-points for adults at risk for occupational lead exposure and for lead-exposed adults in general.
Urine lead is less validated than blood lead levels as a biomarker of external exposure or predictor of health effects.
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get StartedMonthly 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.
% Omega-3s, % Omega-6s, % Omega-9s, % Saturated Fats, 1-Methylhistidine, 3-Hydroxyisovaleric Acid, 3-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid, 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid, 3-Methyl-4-OH-phenylglycol, 3-Methylhistidine, 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid, 5-OH-indoleacetic Acid, 8-OHdG (urine), a-Amino-N-butyric Acid, a-Aminoadipic Acid, a-Hydroxybutyric Acid, a-Hydroxyisobutyric Acid (from MTBE), a-Keto-b-Methylvaleric Acid, a-Ketoadipic Acid, a-Ketoglutaric Acid, a-Ketoisocaproic Acid, a-Ketoisovaleric Acid, a-Ketophenylacetic Acid (from Styrene), a-Linolenic (ALA) 18:3 n3, AA / EPA (20:4 n6 / 20:5 n3), Adipic Acid, Alanine, Aluminum, Anserine (dipeptide), Antimony, Arachidic C20:0, Arachidonic (AA) 20:4 n6, Arginine, Arsenic, Asparagine, Aspartic Acid, b-Alanine, b-Aminoisobutyric Acid, b-OH-b-Methylglutaric Acid, b-OH-Butyric Acid, Barium, Behenic C22:0, Benzoic Acid, Bismuth, Cadmium, Calcium, Carnosine (dipeptide), Cesium, Chromium, cis-Aconitic Acid, Citramalic Acid, Citric Acid, Citrulline, Cobalt, Copper, Creatinine, Creatinine Concentration (Amino Acids FMV), Cystathionine, Cysteine, Cystine, D-Arabinitol, Dihomo-g-linolenic (DGLA) 20:3 n6, Dihydroxyphenylpropionic Acid (DHPPA), Docosahexaenoic (DHA) 22:6 n3, Docosapentaenoic (DPA) 22:5 n3, Docosatetraenoic (DTA) 22:4 n6, Eicosadienoic 20:2 n6, Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) 20:5 n3, Elaidic 18:1 n9t, Ethanolamine, Formiminoglutamic Acid (FIGlu), g-Aminobutyric Acid, g-Linolenic (GLA) 18:3 n6, Gadolinium, Gallium, Glutamic Acid, Glutamine, Glutaric Acid, Glyceric Acid, Glycine, Glycolic Acid, Hippuric Acid, Histidine, Homovanillic Acid, Indoleacetic Acid, Iron, Isocitric Acid, Isoleucine, Isovalerylglycine, Kynurenic / Quinolinic Ratio, Kynurenic Acid, Lactic Acid, Lead, Leucine, Lignoceric C24:0, Linoleic (LA) 18:2 n6, Linoleic / DGLA (18:2 n6 / 20:3 n6), Lipid Peroxides (urine), Lithium, Lysine, Magnesium, Malic Acid, Manganese, Margaric C17:0, Mercury, Methionine, Methylmalonic Acid, Molybdenum, Nervonic 24:1 n9, Nickel, Niobium, Oleic 18:1 n9, Omega-3 Index, Omega-6s /Omega-3s, Ornithine, Orotic Acid, Oxalic Acid, Palmitic C16:0, Palmitoleic 16:1 n7, Pentadecanoic C15:0, Phenylacetic Acid, Phenylalanine, Phosphoethanolamine, Phosphoserine, Platinum, Potassium, Proline, Pyroglutamic Acid, Pyruvic Acid, Quinolinic Acid, Rubidium, Sarcosine, Selenium, Serine, Stearic C18:0, Strontium, Suberic Acid, Succinic Acid, Sulfur, Tartaric Acid, Taurine, Thallium, Thorium, Threonine, Tin, Tricosanoic C23:0, Tryptophan, Tungsten, Tyrosine, Uranium, Urea, Urine Creatinine, Vaccenic 18:1 n7, Valine, Vanadium, Vanilmandelic Acid, Xanthurenic Acid, Zinc