Lead Exposure

Exposure to lead may have caused 5.5 million adult deaths from cardiovascular disease and the loss of 765 million IQ points in children under the age of five worldwide in 2019, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. Up to 95 per cent of the effects were in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), with children there losing an average of 5.9 IQ, or intelligence quotient, points during their first five years of life, the researchers said. The findings indicate the global health effects of lead exposure could be similar to the estimated health effects of small particle pollution, PM2.5, and household air pollution combined, and three times greater than the health effects of unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and handwashing, they said. IQ loss in LMICs due to lead exposure is nearly 80 per cent higher than a previous estimate, while deaths from cardiovascular disease are six times higher, the researchers said. The global cost of lead exposure in 2019 wa

Exposure to lead has a permanent negative impact on children's developing brain