Learn About Lead

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Lead is a toxic metal that is harmful if inhaled or swallowed and can pose serious health risks. This is particularly important for young children and pregnant women. Although most children in the U.S. have low levels of lead in their blood, some situations can increase their exposure and their blood lead levels.

This webpage provides practical information to help you identify potential sources of lead exposure, understand the health impacts of lead and learn how you can reduce your risk.

What is Lead?

Lead is a naturally occurring blue-gray metal found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. Most lead that people are exposed to comes from human activities, such as the historical use of leaded gasoline, release of lead from industrial facilities and lead-based paint in older homes and buildings, including childcare facilities and schools. Lead is mined then processed for use in products to make them durable and longer lasting. Once lead is used in a product, it is typically invisible to the naked eye. Lead lingers in the environment and does not break down or disappear from the environment over time.

Where is Lead Found?

Lead can be found in all parts of our environment - in the air, soil, water, food and in older buildings. Lead can get into the environment from things people used in the past and some things we still use today. You can be exposed to lead without knowing it. Exposure means lead gets into your body, usually when you breathe it in or swallow it. Your chance of exposure depends on where the lead comes from.

Federal and state laws limit lead in products like paint, water pipes and gasoline, so we are exposed to less lead. But lead can still pose health risks, especially for young children who put their hands and objects in their mouths. Find more information about sources of lead exposure and preventative actions to protect your family.

Who Is at Risk? What Are the Health Effects of Lead?

Lead is toxic to humans and animals, and there is no safe safe level of lead in children that has been identified. Lead can harm almost every organ and system in your body. Taking simple steps to reduce your family’s lead exposure is beneficial and can improve life outcomes.

Information About Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention

CDC's Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning Infographic

Children Are Most Vulnerable

Lead is especially dangerous to children six years old and younger. Their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults, and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the effects of lead.

Babies and young children may have higher exposure because they often put their hands, toys and other objects, which can have lead dust or soil on them, into their mouths.

In children, exposure to lead can cause:

Anemia
Damage to the brain and nervous system
Decreased ability to pay attention
Hearing and speech problems
Hyperactivity
Learning and behavioral problems
Lower IQ
Slowed growth and developmental effects
Underperformance in school

In rare cases, lead ingestion can cause seizures, coma and even death.

Adults (Including Pregnant Women) Can Be Exposed

Certain jobs and hobbies may increase your and your family’s risk of lead exposure. Jobs such as renovation, repair or painting of older homes, construction, furniture refinishing, smelting, mining, auto repair, working with leaded gasoline, and/or working at hazardous waste sites can expose you to lead. Hobbies such as making stained glass, fishing, or shooting and reloading lead ammunition can also expose you to lead.

Lead is harmful to all adults. In adults, lead exposure can cause:

Decreased kidney function
Heart-related problems and increased blood pressure
Infertility in both men and women
Learning, memory, and concentration problems
Weakness in fingers, wrists, and ankles

If a pregnant woman is exposed to lead, it can impact her developing fetus. Lead can build up in the body over time and is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, lead can be released from the mother's bones along with calcium and pass to the fetus or infant. This can cause serious effects to the developing fetus or infant, including:

Causing the baby to be born too early or too small
Harming a developing fetus
Increasing the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and infertility

Find resources and more information about the health effects of lead for pregnant and lactating women.

What is Lead Poisoning?

Lead poisoning, or lead toxicity, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), refers to lead exposures that cause illness and require immediate medical attention. It describes cases in which there are severe health effects due to high blood lead levels. If blood lead levels are 45 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL) or higher, healthcare providers may recommend medication to help remove lead from the body. However, children are highly sensitive to lead and exposure at lower levels has been shown to cause harm.

In very rare cases, adults and children with very high lead levels may experience seizures, unconsciousness and death. Some symptoms of lead poisoning like headaches, stomachaches, nausea, tiredness and irritability are also symptoms of flu and other viruses.

Lower Your Chances of Lead Exposure

The most important step you can take is to prevent lead exposure before it happens. Simple actions like keeping your home clean and well-maintained go a long way in preventing lead exposure. You can lower the chances of exposure to lead in your home, both now and in the future, by taking action now to protect your family.

Lead Poisoning & Your Children

English cover of Lead Poisoning and Your Children pamphlet

Learn how to protect children from lead exposure and lead poisoning, such as getting children a blood lead test and reducing exposure from lead-based paint, dust, drinking water and soil.

Clean your home weekly using a clean, wet or damp cloth, sponge or mop to minimize dust, which may contain lead.
Eat a well-balanced diet with foods high in calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin C. These nutrients may help reduce the amount of lead absorbed by the body.
Wash children’s hands several times a day with soap and water, especially after playing outside or with animals.
Remove your shoes when entering your home to prevent tracking in lead from soil or worksites. In some cases, changing your clothes at work and washing your clothes before coming into contact with family members can provide added protection, depending on the amount of lead you are exposed to at work or through hobbies.
Routinely wash any items your children use regularly — especially those they put in their mouths, such as pacifiers, bottles, or stuffed animals and other toys — to minimize exposure to dust, which may contain lead.
Use only cold water for drinking, cooking and making baby formula. Using warm or hot water can cause more lead to enter the water from pipes and fixtures. Boiling water does not remove lead from water. Using a filter properly can also reduce lead in drinking water.

These are just a few actions and are not intended to be exhaustive, or to imply that all actions equally reduce lead exposure. If you are exposed to lead, it is important to understand where the lead is coming from to most effectively reduce risk.

What Should I Do If I Think My Child or I Have Been Exposed to Lead?

Acting now can result in better health outcomes. If you have young children, find out if they've been exposed to lead and learn how to prevent and reduce further exposure.

Get a Blood Lead Test

Blood lead testing can tell you if you have been exposed to lead. The CDC recommends that children be tested at 12 and 24 months old. You can get the test at your healthcare provider's office or a lab. The test will tell you how much lead is in your child's blood, which is is called a blood lead level (BLL). A BLL at or above 3.5 µg/dL (CDC’s blood lead reference value) means your child has more lead in their blood than most children. Learn more about testing for lead poisoning in children from the CDC. For information about the CDC’s blood lead reference value, please visit CDC Updates Blood Lead Reference Value.

If your child has a high BLL, work with your doctor and local health officials to find the source and prevent further exposure. Learn more about recommended actions based on blood lead level from the CDC.

Reduce Exposure

If your family has been exposed to lead, the best way to lower lead in your body is to reduce exposure. Start by finding where the lead is coming from in your home and daily life. In the United States, the most common cause of lead exposure is dust from lead-based paint used before 1978 in older homes, childcare centers or other places where children spend time, like a friend or relative’s house. Depending on where you live, other sources can include soil around your home or neighborhood, tap water, nearby facilities like smelters that release lead and airports with heavy traffic from small piston-engine planes that use leaded gasoline.

Some workers, like renovators, can bring lead dust home on their skin, hair, clothing and shoes. Lead can also come from contaminated food, cosmetics, medicines and antique or imported toys and jewelry. Most lead that causes harm enters a person’s body when they breathe it in or when they swallow something with lead in it.

If you know that you or your children have been exposed to lead, talk to a medical professional with experience in environmental health risks to fully assess the exposure and reduce your risk from all sources.

If you do not know if your healthcare provider has this expertise, reach out to your local Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit for guidance.

Resources and More Information

Health Effects of Lead Exposure

EPA’s Integrated Science Assessment for Lead: The Integrated Science Assessment for Lead represents a concise synthesis and evaluation of the most policy-relevant science and will provide the scientific basis for EPA’s review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Lead (Pb).
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Toxicological Profile for Lead: ATSDR's Toxicological Profiles are a unique compilation of toxicological information on a given hazardous substance. The profile for lead is peer-reviewed and reflects a comprehensive and extensive evaluation, summary, and interpretation of available toxicological and epidemiological information on lead.
Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance (ABLES): CDC's ABLES program monitors work-related lead exposure in the United States The lead exposure data are collected by states and shared with researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), who use these data to see what jobs and industries have lead exposures that need to be addressed.

Lead's Effects on Pregnancy and Lactating Women

Are You Pregnant?: Lead can pass from a mother to her fetus. The good news is that lead poisoning is preventable. CDC's resource provides information for pregnant women about how to reduce the risk of lead exposure.
Risk Factors and Pregnancy: The best way to prevent lead in the blood is preventing lead exposure. Learn more from CDC about how lead can pass from a parent to their fetus.
Lead and Breastfeeding: Mothers can expose infants to lead through breast milk. CDC outlines breastfeeding recommendations for women who have been exposed to lead.
The Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health: This resource from NIOSH outlines the many hazards in the workplace that can affect a woman’s reproductive health.
Guidelines for the Identification and Management of Lead Exposure in Pregnant and Lactating Women: CDC's National Center for Environmental Health reviewed existing evidence for adverse effects of past and current maternal lead exposure on maternal health and fertility and on the developing fetus, infant and child in prenatal and postnatal states to provide guidance for clinicians and the public health community regarding the screening and management of pregnant and lactating women exposed to high levels of lead.

Lead in Children’s Toys

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): CPSC provides information to the public on consumer products that have been recalled. Search “lead” to see toys that have been recalled due to lead.
Lead Exposure Symptoms and Complications: Lead exposure in children is often difficult to see. Most children have no obvious immediate symptoms. Find information from CDC about what to look out for.

Lead Exposure Data

CDC's National Center for Health Statistics monitors blood lead levels in the United States.

About Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention: The goal of CDC's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) is to prevent childhood lead exposure before any harm occurs.
Blood Lead Surveillance: CLPPP collects data about childhood lead exposure. Most states have laws that require clinical laboratories to report all blood lead levels to the state health department. CDC uses the blood lead reference value to identify children with higher levels of lead in their blood.
Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance: State Data: Childhood blood lead surveillance systems at the state level (and local jurisdictions with public health surveillance authority) integrate information from several sources. This includes childhood lead poisoning prevention programs, public and private laboratories and information from health, environmental and housing agencies.
Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance: National Data: CDC’s Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance (CBLS) System at the national level integrates information collected by state and local health departments. State and local childhood lead poisoning prevention programs which are supported by CDC-funded cooperative agreements are required to provide childhood blood lead surveillance data to CDC. Other state and local childhood lead poisoning prevention programs may provide data on a voluntary basis.
EPA Lead Biomonitoring: Biomonitoring refers to the measurement of chemicals in human bodies, such as in blood or urine. Measurements of pollutant levels in children's bodies provide information about their exposures to environmental contaminants. Measurements in women who may become pregnant or are currently pregnant or breastfeeding provide information about exposures that may affect their children. The America's Children and the Environment (ACE) program present biomonitoring data and information on selected chemicals – including lead – measured in the bodies of women of child-bearing age and children.