CDC Lowers 'Lead Poisoning' levels to 5 mcg/dL now considered hazards

The CDC has lowered by half the danger threshold for lead levels in children's blood, one of more than a dozen advisory committee recommendations that the agency has accepted in principle.

From now on, blood levels of lead exceeding 5 mcg/dL will identify children "living or staying for long periods in environments that expose them to lead hazards," according to a CDC statement released Wednesday.

And the CDC now flatly states that any level of lead in the blood is a potential health hazard.

Starting in 1991, the agency had set 10 mcg/dL as the "level of concern" for children's lead exposure. The lower value represents the 97.5th percentile of blood lead levels in children, which the Advisory Committee for Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention recommended as the reference value.

The CDC also accepted the panel's recommendation to stop using the term "level of concern" to indicate a specific threshold for action, insofar as it may imply that lower levels are safe.

Read more By John Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/32737