RISK OF LEAD POISONING

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RISK OF LEAD POISONING

• By
• Marilyn Mbi
• Walden University

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Case Report

• K.C, a 10 year old girl admitted to the ER less
  than an hour for ingesting 20 grams of lead
  nitrate equals to 12.6 grams of lead.
• She presented with symptoms of nausea, abdominal
  pain,
• Vital signs
• temp 36.3 C,
• HR 106/min
• Breathing rate 20/min
• BP 132/64 mmhg
• Body weight 30.5kg
• PE abdominal tenderness on deep palpation

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Case Report cont.

• Serum lead level 20.4 µmol/L

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Case Report Cont

• Treatment
• Supportive therapy of a dose of 1g/kg of charcoal
  was administered to maintain urine output,
  orogastric tube and gastric lavage.\
• chelation with calcium disodium
  ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid was started as a
  single agent in a dose of 1500 mg/m²/day in a
  continious infusion for 8 days

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Lead poisoning

• The above case represents a clinical case of lead
  poisoning.
• The scenario states that the 10 year old ingested
  lead nitrate however, there are other ways that
  this patient could have still been affected by
  lead toxicity.

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Lead Poisoning cont..

• Lead was used as an additive to household paint,
  gasoline, stained-glass windows and shutgun
  pellets for years.
• Today, tons of lead are produced yearly for use
  in batteries, alloys exterior red lead paints as
  well as ammunition.

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Lead Poisoning Cont

• Employees of these industries as well as in
  mining, smelting, spray painting, recycling and
  radiator repair are exposed to lead.
• Motor vehicles used to be the major contributor
  of lead emission to the air since tetraethyl lead
  was used as gasoline additive, thus polluting the
  air .

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Lead Poisoning cont

• Industrial processes of metals are the major
  source of lead emissions to the air, usually
  found near lead smelters.
• Contaminants that are released from industrial
  facilities may end up in many sections of the
  environment and their capacity and composition
  will varies with time and the nature and extent
  of the facilities operation

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Lead Poisoning cont

• Cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), contain large amount of
  lead and they have been classified by EPA as
  hazardous waste.
• The batteries and printed circuit boards contain
  lead.

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Lead Mode of Transmission
AIRBORNE LEAD
Inhalaion
Deposition
Deposition
Deposition And uptake
Dust
Sewage
Soil
Water
Plants
Animals
Ingestion
Ingestion
Aquatic life
Direct Inhalation
HUMANS
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Effects of Lead poisoning cont..

• Ingested lead is absorbed through the
  gastrointestinal tract which is then enhanced by
  calcium, iron or zinc deficiency.
• The absorption is greater in children and infants
  thus making them more vulnerable to lead toxicity
  than adults
• About 80 to 85 of absorbed lead is taken up by
  bone and developing teeth in children, about 5
  to 10 is accumulated in the blood and the rest
  in absorbed by the soft tissues

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Effects of Lead Poisoning cont

• lead can affect the nervous system, kidney
  function, immune system, reproductive and
  developmental system as well as the
  cardiovascular system.
• It also affects the oxygen carrying capacity of
  blood
• The effects of lead most commonly encountered in
  the current population are neurological effects
  in children and cardiovascular effects in adults,
  with infants and young children being especially
  sensitive to even low levels of lead since it
  leads to behavioral problems, learning deficits
  and reduced IQ level

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Effects of Lead Poisoning cont

• As we saw in the introductory case report,
  infants and children and adolescent are
  especially vulnerable to lead toxicity.
• CDC estimated that by the year 2000,
  approximately 454,000 children in the United
  States had blood lead levels greater than 10
  µg/dl.
• A recent study shows that even below this level,
  there is an inverse correlation between blood
  lead concentration and IQ scores

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Effects of Lead Poisonging cont.

• A slightly elevated blood level of approximately
  3 µg/dl in young girls can delay puberty.
• Lead may also move from the maternal skeleton
  during pregnancy and crosses the placental
  barrier thus exposing the fetus to lead toxicity.

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A PLEA For Action

• It is very important for the health of the public
  to be protected.
• Banning the use of lead paints indoors,
• Respiratory protection
• Doing periodic blood test for lead levels.

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A PLEA For Action cont..

• Now is the time to take actions and measures to
  inhibit the emergence of risk factors in the form
  of
• Environmental
• Economic
• Social
• behavioral conditions
• cultural patterns of living.

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A PLEA For Action cont..

• This plea goes to
• governmental agencies
• all industries involved in any kind of production
  that generates lead poisoning
• parents and school officials.
• It is very vital that we all work as a team to
  prevent the risk that lead poisoning imposes on
  all of us especially our kids.

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Reference

• Mikler, J, Banovcin, P, Jesenak, M, Hamizikova,
  J, Statelova, D. (2009). Successful treatment
  of extreme acute lead intoxication. Toxicology
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  Academic Search Permier database.
• Eason, C, OHalloran , K (2002) Biomarkers in
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• Moeller, D.W. (2005) Air in the home and
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  Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press
• Kumar, V, Abbas, A. K, Fauto, N. (2005).
  Environmental Nutritional Pathology Robins and
  Cotran Pathology Basis of Disease. (7th ed.).
  Philadelphia, PA Elsevier
• Environmental Protective Agency (2009) Basic
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• Macauley, M., Palmer, K., Shih, J.-S., Cline, C.,
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• Environmental Protective Agency (2009) Health and
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