ABSTRACT
Lead exposure and toxicity continue to be a major public health problem in urban centers in the U.S. and around the world. Human exposure to lead, especially at a young age, adversely affects a range of body systems including the reproductive, gastrointestinal, immune, renal, cardiovascular, skeletal, muscular, hematopoetic, and nervous systems (Goyer, 1996). In particular, the central nervous system (CNS) is sensitive to lead (Finkelstein et al., 1998). In October 1991 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a new statement on the prevention of lead poisoning in young children which revised the 1985 intervention blood lead level of 25 µg/dl downward to 10 µg/dl (0.483 µM/l) (CDC, 1992). Approximately 8.9% of children in the U.S. alone exceed that threshold (Goldstein, 1992; Needleman, 1994, 1998; Bressler et al., 1999). In children, blood lead level as low as 0.5-1.0 µM may affect CNS development leading to mental retardation and permanent cognitive deficits (Bellinger et al., 1987). Any exposure to lead is harmful to the CNS and a threshold
below which lead has no effect has yet to be discovered (Lidsky and Schneider, 2003).
