Get even more lead out: CDC

For the first time in over 20 years, the CDC has redefined the level of concern for lead levels in children's blood. The agency, in a statement released Wednesday, has lowered this level from 10 mcg/dL to 5 mcg/dL; now children whose blood levels exceed the latter concentration will be identified as "living or staying for long periods in environments that expose them to lead hazards." What s more, the CDC has now asserted that any level of lead in the blood, even below 5 mcg/dL, is a potential health hazard.

But this new recommendation goes a step further than simply lowering the level of concern. The CDC has actually eliminated the use of the term "level of concern; the point, they say, is that no blood level of lead is safe. Thus the CDC has now asserted that any level of lead in the blood, even below 5mcg/dL, is a potential health hazard.The Committee advised that the focus should instead be on preventive measures; these include a national policy to eliminate all childhood lead exposure, regular health checkups for all children with blood levels of 5 mcg/dL or higher, and a variety of local policies and laws focused on eliminating lead hazards.

For most of the recommendations it has decided to adopt, the CDC has said that it will need additional staff, funding, and legal authority in order to implement them.

While the American Public Health Association applauded the CDC's new recommendations, ACSH won't be awarding any kudos to the agency. Especially perplexing to the scientists on the ACSH staff is the assertion that no blood level of lead is safe. "Any good toxicology scientist knows that the effects of lead have a threshold," says ACSH scientific advisor Dr. Robert Brent, who is a professor of pediatrics, radiology, and pathology at Jefferson Medical College and a researcher at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Deleware. "What toxicological effects can affect the central nervous system at blood levels below 10 mcg/dL?"

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross agrees. "This has become more of a political than a public health issue," he says. "Since the 1970s, the recommended lead threshold in this country has been steadily lowered, and the number of children with elevated levels has plummeted. At this point, the CDC's regulation is only kowtowing to unfounded fears. It is not scientifically possible to prove that even a minute level of lead in the blood is not a hazard, so those who insist that we should work to eliminate all lead get away with it. This is the precautionary principle at work.

For a more thorough look at the question of lead exposure, we recommend the ACSH publication Lead and Human Health: An Update.