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Articles by Dr. Guggenheim
Lead
Lead is a bluish-gray metal that naturally occurs in small amounts in the earth’s crust. Lead is in all parts of our environment from burning fossil fuels, mining and manufacturing. You can be exposed to lead by eating food or drinking water that contains lead. Other exposures to lead include: lead-based paint, eating or drinking from improperly glazed pottery or ceramic dishes, using health-care products or folk remedies that contain lead, cosmetics and hair dyes, cigarette smoke, occupational exposure such as: plumbers, mechanics, and refinery workers, and engaging in hobbies like stained glass.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) considers lead poisoning the number one environmental health threat to children in the USA. One million children have enough lead in their blood to reduce intelligence and attention span, cause learning disabilities, and permanently damage brain and nervous system tissue. Lead can affect every organ system in the body and it has a particular affinity for the central nervous system, kidneys, and the reproductive system. Whether lead is breathed or swallowed the effects are the same. Most lead that enters your body comes through swallowing. After lead gets into the body, it travels in the blood to soft tissues and then eventually moves into your bones and teeth. Lead remains in the bones and teeth (94% in adults and 73% in children) for years except under specific circumstances like: pregnancy, breast feeding and fractures in the elderly where lead reenters the blood stream. Moderate lead toxicity can cause muscular exhaustion, headaches, vomiting, constipation, general fatigue, diffuse abdominal pain and weight loss. Severe toxicity is associated with paralysis, abrupt seizures, and intermittent severe abdominal cramping.
Lead exposure can cause decreased work performance, weakness in the fingers, wrists, and ankles, increased blood pressure, anemia, kidney and brain damage, miscarriage and impaired sperm production. In human studies, lead has not been found to cause cancer, but kidney tumors have developed in rodents that were given large doses of lead.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers children to have an elevated level of lead at 10 micrograms/deciliter. “The developing nervous system of a child can be affected adversely at less than 10 micrograms/deciliter. For children, there may be no threshold for development effects.”1 You can take a simple blood test to measure the amount of lead in your blood. This will reflect recent exposures only. Environmental medicine experts run a provocative urine challenge to test for heavy metals. An oral chelating agent (DMSA or DMPS) is given to the patient in a specific dosage and then their urine is collected for the next six hours. This test reflects more accurately the body’s store of heavy metals including: mercury, lead, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, aluminum, etc. Based on the test results, a treatment protocol is put into place using chelating agents, dietary guidelines, supplements for detoxification, sauna, and hydrotherapy. Detoxification cycles run for six weeks and then the patient is retested.
The most important way to reduce your risk of exposure to lead is to know about the sources of lead in your home. Homes built before 1978 may have been painted with lead-based paint. Federal government regulations require that sellers inform the real-estate agent or buyer of any known lead-based hazards on the property. Surfaces can be tested before home remodeling begins so that safe procedures are used. Advice can be sought from professional lead paint removal experts.
It is recommended to run cold water through your pipes for 15 to 30 seconds before drinking, cooking or making baby formula. Copper pipes can contain lead solder. Boiling your water does not get rid of lead. Remove your shoes at your front entrance as street shoes are the biggest lead contamination in the home. Don’t forget to wipe off your pet’s feet. Lead dust is tracked over every floor surface and this is where small children/babies play. Damp-mop floors, damp-wipe surfaces and wash pacifiers, toys and little hands. Check your soil before you decide to plant that organic garden. Read all labels on cosmetics, hair dyes and folk remedies to check for lead acetate. Regular face and hand washing for all family members can remove lead dusts and soil reducing the risk of swallowing while eating. If you have an occupational exposure to lead, shower and change your clothes before coming home. Bag your work clothes and then take them straight to the laundry. Set up proper ventilation and clean up after hobby activities, home or auto repair activities to reduce the risk of exposure.
Good nutrition lowers the amount of swallowed lead that gets into the bloodstream with children and adults. A balanced diet and good multi-vitamins/minerals can offset some of the toxicity of lead.
1. ATSDR. Case Studies in Environmental Medicine. Lead Toxicity www.atsdr.cdc.gov
