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Study: Lead poisoning causes more deaths than smoking or cholesterol, lowers the level of intelligence in children

2023-09-14 20:40:48Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Study: Lead poisoning causes more deaths than smoking or cholesterol, lowers the
Lead poisoning causes more deaths than smoking or cholesterol

Lead poisoning has a far more serious impact on global health than previously thought, contributing to more than five million deaths a year, according to a study published in the Lancet Planetary Health.

The research, which is labeled "cautionary," also estimates that exposure to toxic metals causes young children in developing countries to lose, on average, nearly six IQ points each.

Lead poisoning is now known to cause a number of serious health problems, mostly related to heart disease and brain development in young children, leading to a global ban on leaded gasoline.

But people can still be exposed to the powerful neurotoxin through food, soil, cookware, cosmetics, lead-acid car batteries and other sources.

World Bank economists, who authored the study, noted that it is the first to estimate the effects of lead exposure on heart disease and IQ decline in rich and developing countries.

Research leader Bjorn Larsen said that when he and his colleague first saw the number that came out of their modeling, "we couldn't even guess because it was so big."

Their study estimates that 5.5 million adults died of heart disease in 2019 due to lead exposure, 90% of them in low- and middle-income countries.

This figure is six times higher than the previous estimate and accounts for almost 30% of all deaths from cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

As Larsen points out, this means that lead exposure is a bigger cause of heart disease than smoking or high cholesterol.

The research also estimates that, globally, children under the age of five lost a total of 765 million IQ points due to lead poisoning in 2019, with 95% of these losses occurring in developing countries.

This number is nearly 80% higher than previous estimates.

World Bank researchers estimate the economic cost of lead exposure at six trillion dollars in 2019, equivalent to 7% of global GDP.

For the analysis, the researchers used estimates of blood lead levels in people in 183 countries obtained from the landmark Global Burden of Disease 2019 study.

Previous research had only measured the effects of lead on heart disease in terms of increased blood pressure. But the new study looked at many other ways lead affects the heart, such as hardening of the arteries that can lead to strokes, causing higher numbers, Larsen explained.

Roy Harrison, an air pollution and health expert at the University of Birmingham in Britain who was not involved in the research, told AFP his findings were "interesting but uncertain".

For example, the link between the presence of lead in the blood and heart disease is based on a study in the US, and whether these conclusions can be applied worldwide is "a big leap", he says.

Harrison also adds that the model used estimates, not blood lead tests, in many developing countries.

If the results are confirmed, "they will have major implications for public health, but for now, this is just an interesting hypothesis," he concludes.


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