Lead contamination found in the blood of half of young kids tested

About half of young children who were tested for lead had detectable levels of the toxic metal in their blood, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday.

While most of the kids had relatively smaller amounts, about 2% had a level that is considered high. The research tracked more than 1.1 million children under the age of 6 years who underwent lead testing from October 2018 through February 2020.

The findings are likely to raise public health alarms in the U.S., especially amid concerns that lead exposure may be worsening during the pandemic, as well as new questions about the significance of lower levels of lead exposure.

“The broad picture is: Kids have lead in the U.S.,” said Morri Markowitz, who directs the lead poisoning prevention and treatment program at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and was not involved in the study. “For lead there’s no too low. We want zero.”

Kids get exposed to lead in their environment, often through lead paint in older homes. Other sources include lead pipes that bring water into houses and lead found in soil outdoors. There is no level of lead in blood that’s known to be safe, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

Lead is known to cause likely irreversible damage to still-growing young children, including by harming the brain and nervous system and leading to issues with learning, behavior, hearing and speech.

The new study is the first to examine low levels of lead in children’s blood, enabled by more sensitive technology, said Harvey Kaufman, a co-author of the study. Kaufman is also senior medical director at Quest Diagnostics Inc., which performed the testing for the study.

The researchers expected that some children would have detectable amounts of lead in their blood, “but we were surprised that it was half of all children who were tested,” he said.