September 9th, 2009
Recent research argues that long-term subjection to lead may increase the risk of death caused by heart disease.
The Boston veterans’ age study, used 868 participants of mostly Caucasian men, where they inspected lead concentration in their bones and blood.
At the beginning of the study the average age of male participants was 67. These men exhibited lead concentration in both their blood and their bones of the kneecap and shin, which during their nine year analyses 241 participants reportedly died.
Of the participants, the researchers infer that men with an elevated mass of lead in their bones had a six time considerable r chance of dying from cardiovascular disease than those with a lower mass.
In addition, participants with the most elevated lead levels had a 2.5 times higher chance of dying of all causes than the participants with the minimalist levels.
Study author Marc Weisskopf, assistant professor of environmental health and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, states “Cumulative subjection to lead, even in an era when current exposures are low, represents an important predictor of cardiovascular death … the findings with bone lead are dramatic. It is the first time we have had a biomarker of cumulative subjection to lead, and the strong findings suggest that it is a more critical biomarker than blood lead.”
In general, the study participants’ lead blood levels were somewhat higher than the average of similar US men. Although very few of the participants were involved in jobs with lead subjection, jobs such as construction and painting put men at a greater risk.
Present-day sources of lead subjection include chipping, flaking lead in paint, water pipes (found in older homes), food and drinking water, ammunition, toy soldier, fishing weight casting as well as lead can be located in the solder that is used for stained glass and some ceramic glazes.
