Lead in Air, Soil, and Blood: Pb Poisoning in a Changing World
Abstract
:1. Introduction
“Now I feel fairly sure of what I am going to say, and that is this: … If the case involved ingested lead and if [the physician] had a good medical education and if he knew the man had a stomachache and certain other symptoms of lead poisoning, he would size it up as lead poisoning. But if the material is inhaled—and its symptomology is altered when it is inhaled, because of its wider distribution in the body—it is extremely likely that nine hundred and ninety-nine ordinary physicians out of a thousand would fail to recognize the condition as lead poisoning.” Yandel Henderson, 1925 [1].
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Blood Pb Results from Sweden, China, Germany, and Australia
3.1.1. Sweden, Yearly Measurements of Blood Pb in Swedish Children
- From 1978 to 1994, in small Swedish cities there was a gradual reduction of blood Pb coinciding with a gradual reduction in leaded petrol [15].
- Sweden’s petrol became Pb-free in 1995.
- In 1995–2007, children’s blood Pb declined and stabilized at ~2 µg/d (Figure 2).
3.1.2. China, Asir Pb and Blood Pb of Urban and Rural Children
- This study noted three phases in blood Pb change [16].
- In 1997–2000, before the phasedown of leaded petrol, blood Pb increased rapidly.
- After the phasedown, in 2001–2013, blood Pb decreased rapidly.
- According to the raw data, in 2014–2015, blood Pb stabilized.
- The raw data blood Pb are from urban surveys, while air Pb is from multiple industrial surveys. As a result, the two surveys are not necessarily associated.
3.1.3. Germany, Pb Exposure >35 Years of 20–29-Year-Old Compared with the Same Aged US young Adults
- Data from the early 1980s to 2019 reveal a blood Pb decrease of about 87% [17].
- The US 20–29-year-old young adults represent rural, suburban, and urban areas.
- The trends in human exposure closely correlate with air Pb levels.
- Since 2010, blood Pb in German young adults have flattened to ~1 µg/dL.
3.1.4. Australia, the Rise, Fall, and Remobilization of Industrial Lead
- Australian environmental Pb emissions began in the 1880s.
- Environmental archives contain multiple natural Pb isotopic values.
- The decline in leaded petrol coincides with urban blood Pb.
- Leaded petrol continued to decline but urban blood Pb stabilized at <2 µg/dL
- Around mines and smelters, blood, air, and soil Pb remain elevated.
3.2. Air Pb, Soil Pb, and Blood Pb
3.2.1. London, UK, Evidence for 20th Century Pb Deposition being Remobilized into the Atmosphere
- Britain banned leaded petrol at the end of the 20th century [26].
- Prior to the ban, Pb from exhaust particles were deposited in soils.
- Leaded petrol was the main source of Pb during the 20th century.
- Pb isotopes of air particles collected in London (2014–2018) were measured [26].
- Pb isotopic composition of air particles matched road dust and topsoil Pb.
- Persistence of Pb indicates that London reached an air Pb baseline.
- The policy measures in London are insufficient to decrease the Pb baseline [26].
3.2.2. New Orleans, LA, USA, the Concurrent Decrease of Soil Pb and Blood Pb
- A 19-year study evaluated changes in soil Pb and blood Pb after the 1986 rapid phasedown of leaded gasoline [27].
- Reservoirs of soil Pb persist in topsoil from fuel emissions and other Pb sources, which can become Pb dust.
- Over ~15 years, the median soil Pb decreased from 99 to 54 mg/kg as mapped in Figure 6. The spatiotemporal declines in soil Pb and blood Pb are presented in Figure 7.Figure 6. Spatiotemporal declines of soil Pb in New Orleans. The maps of New Orleans were created from a citywide survey of the metropolitan communities (n~5400 soil samples systematically collected across 274 census tracts) [27].Figure 7. Graph of the median blood Pb (µg/dL) on the y-axis and median soil Pb (mg/kg) on the x-axis. Two surveys of New Orleans over an interval of ~15 years illustrate the concurrent decrease in both blood Pb and soil Pb. The high blood Pb census tracts correspond with high soil Pb. The Fisher’s Exact p-values are <10−36. As illustrated in Figure 5, the most contaminated areas are clustered in the inner-city where the highest children’s blood lead values are found. Combination of two different figures and redrawn [27].
- Over ~12 years, median blood Pb declined from 3.6 µg/dL to 1.2 µg/dL.
- Fisher’s exact test result is <10−36 and the null hypothesis is rejected.
- Similar declines are hypothesized in other major cities. The results of a follow-up study in the Detroit Tri County Area of Michigan helps validate the hypothesis [28].
4. Discussion
4.1. Ongoing Pb Exposure: Exogenous Soil Pb, Air Pb, and Endogenous Sources
4.2. New Approaches for Primary Prevention
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Google Search Key Words | Publication with Short Title | Year | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Sweden, blood Pb, air Pb | Blood Pb of Swedish children, 1978–2007 | 2008 | [15] |
China, blood Pb, air Pb | Blood Pb urban and suburban children | 2018 | [16] |
Germany, blood Pb, air Pb | Long-term trend Pb exposure adults | 2021 | [17,18] |
Australia, leaded gas, blood | Rise, fall, and remobilization of Pb | 2017 | [19] |
UK airborne Pb and blood Pb | Effect of Airborne Pb on Blood Lead | 1983 | [20] |
NZ petrol Pb, blood Pb, | Petrol Pb effect on blood Pb | 1986 | [21] |
Mexico, blood Pb and air Pb | Lead in air and traditional lead-ceramic | 2018 | [22] |
Durban, air Pb, blood Pb | Manganese and Pb in children’s blood | 2010 | [23] |
Korea, blood Pb, petrol Pb | Blood Pb before and after leaded petrol | 2017 | [24] |
NW Europe, blood Pb, air Pb | Air Pb and blood Pb decline in Europe | 2015 | [25] |
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Mielke, H.W.; Gonzales, C.R.; Powell, E.T.; Egendorf, S.P. Lead in Air, Soil, and Blood: Pb Poisoning in a Changing World. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 9500. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159500
Mielke HW, Gonzales CR, Powell ET, Egendorf SP. Lead in Air, Soil, and Blood: Pb Poisoning in a Changing World. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(15):9500. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159500
Chicago/Turabian StyleMielke, Howard W., Christopher R. Gonzales, Eric T. Powell, and Sara Perl Egendorf. 2022. "Lead in Air, Soil, and Blood: Pb Poisoning in a Changing World" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 15: 9500. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159500