Lead poisoning

What it is

Lead poisoning is defined as acute or chronic exposure to lead resulting in lead accumulation (blood lead concentration (BLC) >5 ug/dL) that can affect every organ system in the body and to which children are more susceptible. Clinical manifestations depend on the amount and duration of exposure and include abdominal pain, colic, constipation, lead line on gingival tissue, arthralgia, myalgia, peripheral neuropathy, fatigue, irritability, anemia, chronic nephropathy and hypertension. In children, even low levels of exposure (BLC <5 ug/dL) is reported to lead to irreversible effects such as loss of cognition, shortening of attention span, alteration of behavior, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 100 000 (Europe)

Age of onset

All ages

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references