Lead in human tissues

Indices of potential lead hazard.

“…However, its diagnostic value at the borderline of hazardous conditions is quite limited. It has been found that PbB is more a measure of very recent exposure (30)(31)(32)(33) than of total body burden, and most lead in the body is within the hard and soft tissues (33)(34)(35)(36). Below are some of the best data for "normal" concentrations of PbB.…”

“…Analyses of the lead in different bones and in different parts of the same bones (34,35) and the metabolic, compartmental studies of Rabinowitz et al (33,90) show that bone is heterogeneous with regard to the uptake and metabolism of lead. There are both rather mobile and relatively stable compartments.…”

“…Much has been written about these sites of lead accumulation. Some recent studies of the concentrations attained in soft tissues and bone are by Gross et al (34), Barry (35), and Poklis and Freimuth (36). The data were analyzed as a function of age, sex, occupation, and geographic location.…”

“…"In children with hematocrit :36% and PbB <30 ,ug/100 ml, we have found that erythrocyte protoporphyrin levels are low and independent of PbB concentration ... ¢90% of children with PbB ¢50 ,tg/100 ml are positive reactors and that 50% response rate is associated with PbB in the [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] ,ug/100 ml range (15)." Elsewhere (89) it is stated that "significant numbers of children with blood lead levels of [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] ,ug/100 ml have shown evidence of metabolic impairment as detected by EP test-ing. "…”

Characterizing Golden Eagle Risk to Lead and Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure: A Review

“…The expression, body burden is used here to refer to the total amount of lead in the body. Most of the available information about the distribution of lead to major organ systems (e.g., bone, soft tissues) derives from autopsy studies conducted in the 1960s and 1970s and reflect body burdens accrued during periods when ambient and occupational exposure levels were much higher than current levels (Barry 1975(Barry , 1981Gross et al 1975;Schroeder and Tipton 1968). In general, these studies indicate that the distribution of lead appears to be similar in children and adults, although a larger fraction of the lead body burden of adults resides in bone (see Section 3.3.3 for further discussion).…”