About Lead in the Workplace

Background

Lead is a metal found across all industries, but direct exposure is most likely among workers in construction, mining, and manufacturing.

NIOSH has worked to address lead exposure in the workplace, including:

• Lead-acid battery recycling,
• Bullet manufacturing, and
• Electronics recycling, among other industries.

Health effects

There is currently no known safe level of lead, and exposure to lead can cause health problems. The health effects of lead are the same whether lead particles are breathed-in, swallowed, or absorbed through your skin.

Health effects from high lead exposure

In adults, exposure to high levels of lead may cause:

• Anemia
• Kidney damage
• Neurologic and brain damage
• Infertility in both men and women
• Death

Other health effects

Your body stores and releases lead

Though you do not need lead to survive, your body still stores it. Lead can be found in blood and other tissues, but 90% stores in your bones.

As you age, your bones often weaken and become less dense. Aging often moves minerals out of bone and into other areas of your body. Your bones store lead, sometimes for decades, and release it into your blood. If this happens, lead can reach and possibly harm other organ systems in your body.

Many women undergoing menopause experience these changes. Post-menopausal women have been found to have higher blood lead levels (BLLs) than pre-menopausal women.67

Vulnerable populations

If you work near lead, you can bring home lead dust on your clothes, shoes, and hair, among other things. This puts your family at risk. However, there are steps you can take to protect your family and household for work-related lead.

Pregnant women

If you are exposed to lead when pregnant, your unborn child may also be exposed. This is because lead can cross the placental barrier. Lead can damage a developing baby's nervous system8. It can also cause miscarriage and stillbirths.910

Children

Lead poisoning has happened in children whose parents accidentally brought home lead dust on their work clothes and other personal items.11

Children tend to show signs of severe lead toxicity at lower exposure levels than adults. However, most children with lead in their blood have no obvious symptoms.

A blood test is the easiest way to find out if a child has been exposed to lead. Talk to your child's healthcare provider about getting a blood lead test.