Lead - Dangers

How many of you remember the good ol' days of leaded gasoline and leaded paint?  Well, I sure do.  I can remember siphoning gas and getting a mouthful. Oy vay!

Well, we had the good sense to get rid of the leaded gas and paint and yet lead abounds in copious quantities in any modern, industrialized lifestyle. Lead is used in many, many commercial and manufacturing systems and world production has grown to over 8 million tons annually!  That's a lot of lead, especially considering it only takes minute amounts to do us and our children a lot of damage.

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Lead can damage just about every kind of tissue in the body.  Here are just a few of the nasty effects of lead that researchers have uncovered:

1.  Brain Cancer.  A 2006 study linked occupational exposure to lead to a 50% increase in brain cancer. [1]  Brain cancer is nasty and often hard to treat because of trying to get proper drugs across the blood-brain barrier.

2.  Osteoporosis.  Elevated lead levels in the bones is correlated with osteoporosis later in life. [2]

3.  Cognition.  Several studies have shown that too much lead results in cognitive issues later in life. [3]  The reason for this is that it actually destroys nerve endings and connections, i.e. it's a neurotoxin.  It is especially toxic to children, where some research has found even the most minute levels have been found to lower IQ.  For example, one 2005 study found that blood lead levels could mean as much as a 7 point difference in IQ on average. [4]  This echoed the findings of an earlier study where lead exposure was associated with a small, but significant drop in IQ of 1-2 points. [5]

4. Kidney Decline. Lead exposure is assocated with gradual kidney decline that can potentially cause issues later in life. [6]  (So is Aspartame/Nutrasweet/Equal as I document in this link on Artificial Sweeteners.)

5. Low Testosterone. If you get enough lead, there is evidence that it can lead to low testosterone and possibly hypogonadism. One study showed that it negatively impacted many other hormones as well, including estradiol, LH, FSH and prolactin. [7][8]

So how can you protect yourself from lead?  Well, this is very difficult, especially since China makes almost everything and many products coming out of China have been found to have unhealthy levels of lead. However, there are two practical keys which will help considerably:

1.  Lead Test Kits.  You can now buy very reasonably priced test kits that usually involve swabbing a suspected surface for potential lead contamination.  This is particularly important if you have kids.  Again, many painted products from China have been tainted and, if you can afford it, testing could save a lot of neurons. Consumer Reports ran a study and had certain lead test kits that they recommended.  Some of these are even available on Amazon for under $10:  First Alert LT1 Premium Lead Test Kit or Homax 5250 Household Lead Test Kit.

2.  Raising Glutathione.  Glutathione is the body's natural detoxifier.  This is such an important topic that I have devoted a separate link on How to Raise Glutathione.

REFERENCES:

1) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060828211626.htm

2) Environmental Health Perspectives, 2007, 115(7):1018-1022, "The Association between Blood Lead Levels and Osteoporosis among Adults-Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III)"

3)  American Journal of Epidemiology, 2004, 160(12):1184-1193; "Cumulative Lead Exposure and Prospective Change in Cognition among Elderly Men"

4) Environ Health Perspect, 2005 Jul, 113(7):894-9, "Low-level environmental lead exposure and children's intellectual function: an international pooled analysis"

5) BMJ, Nov 1994, 309(6963): 1189–1197. "Environmental lead and children's intelligence: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence"

6) J Am Soc Nephrol, 2004, 15:1016-1022, "Environmental Exposure to Lead and Progression of Chronic Renal Diseases: A Four-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study"

7) Infertility, 1978, 1(1):33-51, "Hypogonadism in chronically lead-poisoned men"

8) Hum Exp Toxicol, Mar 1988, 7(2):2 125-128, "Lead Toxicity on Endocrine Testicular Function in an Occupationally Exposed Population"