Lead poisoning may hasten death for millions

Exposure to traces of lead in petrol and paint may be linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year.

As many as 412,000 Americans die prematurely every year - mostly from cardiovascular disease - due to past exposure to small amonts of the toxic metal, a new US study suggested.

The figure is “10 times more than previously thought and could put deaths from lead exposure on a par with smoking”, says The Independent.

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Lead was added to petrol until the 1990s to boost engine compression, and was also widely used to improve the performance of household paint before being banned in the US in 1978 and the EU in 1992 “after concerns over the effects it was having on the environment and children’s brains”, adds the paper.

The study, which was published in The Lancet Public Health journal this week, tracked more than 14,000 adults over a period of about 20 years.

"Nobody had even tried to estimate the number of deaths caused by lead exposure using a nationally representative sample of adults," Dr Bruce Lanphear, a professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University and a leading author of the study told CNN.

"But if we're underestimating the impact of lead exposure on cardiovascular disease mortality and other important outcomes beyond IQ, then it might have a big impact on the way we make investments in preventing lead poisoning exposure."

The figures quoted apply to the US, and it is unclear how levels of lead exposure in Britain compare, but “if results were similar in this country it would mean 100,000 deaths a year could be linked to past lead pollution”, says The Times.

Tim Chico of the University of Sheffield told the paper: “This study suggests that lead, or factors that increase people’s exposure to lead, causes thousands more deaths every year than we previously recognised.”

Metin Avkiran, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, added: “This study adds to the substantial evidence that exposure to lead can have long-term consequences. It also suggests that even ‘low-level’ exposure increases health risks.

“The air that we breathe is still dangerously toxic and we know that it has harmful effects on heart health. We therefore cannot be complacent in our campaign for clean air in order to reduce the risks posed to the nation’s health.”