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Lead Exposure’s Silent Threat to IQ and Lives

Medicine doctor woman hand working with computer virtual dashboard as medical network concept Lead testing

Lead exposure is a worldwide health risk despite substantial declines in blood lead levels following the leaded gasoline phase-out. For the first time, to our knowledge, we aimed to estimate the global burden and cost of intelligence quotient (IQ) loss and cardiovascular disease mortality from lead exposure.

Lead exposure, once thought to be on the decline, continues to pose a significant global health risk. Despite strides in reducing lead levels in the wake of the phasing out of leaded gasoline, new research reveals a sobering truth. A recent study, conducted for the first time on a global scale, estimates the burden and economic cost of lead exposure, specifically focusing on intelligence quotient (IQ) loss in children and cardiovascular disease mortality in adults. The findings are alarming.

Lead exposure remains a substantial public health concern worldwide. Even with progress in reducing blood lead levels, there are lingering threats to human health. This comprehensive study aims to quantify the worldwide impact of lead exposure on intelligence and cardiovascular health, shedding light on the hidden consequences of this silent toxin.

Blood lead level estimates

This groundbreaking modeling study utilized blood lead level estimates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. Researchers assessed IQ loss in children under 5 years old and calculated the associated economic costs. Cardiovascular disease mortality in adults over 25 years old due to lead exposure was also determined. All estimates were categorized by World Bank income classification and region, focusing on low and middle-income countries in 2019.

Findings: The results are startling. In 2019, it is estimated that children under 5 years old worldwide lost a staggering 765 million IQ points due to lead exposure. Furthermore, lead exposure led to the premature deaths of 5,545,000 adults from cardiovascular disease. Of these losses, 90.2% occurred in low and middle-income countries. The economic toll is equally concerning, with the global cost of lead exposure totaling $6.0 trillion in 2019, equivalent to 6.9% of the world’s GDP.

These findings underscore the immense health and economic repercussions of global lead exposure, rivaling those of PM2.5 air pollution. While progress has been made, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of blood lead level data, particularly in low and middle-income countries. The study serves as a stark reminder that lead exposure continues to exact a significant toll on global health and economies.

Funding: The research was supported by the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund and the World Bank’s Pollution Management and Environmental Health Program.

 

Read the full article on thelancet.com
Lead Exposure’s Silent Threat to IQ

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Revolutionary Lead spray test using solar cell tech

AMOLF researchers have used the special properties of perovskite semiconductors to develop a simple spray test to demonstrate the presence of lead. Perovskite is a material suitable for use in LEDs and solar cells, for example.

A lead-containing surface shines bright green when it is sprayed with the test. This test is 1,000 times more sensitive than existing tests and the researchers found no false positive or false negative results. The study was published on November 27 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

“We have hijacked the technology of perovskite semiconductors and used it in a widely deployable lead test. Nobody in this discipline had ever thought of that,” says Lukas Helmbrecht, researcher at the group Self-Organizing Matter led by Wim Noorduin at AMOLF. “We are very pleased with these results,” says Noorduin. “It is a really cool project and it is quite rare for fundamental research to literally impact the entire world with an application.”

Read the full article on physc.org
lead spray test solar cell technology

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Green Fluorescent Light with Spray-on Detector

A Reagent spray bottle spraying from the right

Lead contamination and exposure can cause “ profound and permanent ” impacts, including brain damage in children, and increased risk of kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, and miscarriage, according to the World Health Organization.

Lead Detection Breakthrough: Green Fluorescent Light with Spray-on Detector

While known contamination is relatively easy to mitigate, the detection itself can be a tricky proposition. Standard methods can only detect lead if it’s isolated and concentrated first.

Now, researchers at Amolf, a research institute dedicated to studying the physics of matter, have developed a spray-on reagent that signals the presence of even tiny amounts of lead by lighting up fluorescent green under a UV light within seconds. Comprised of methyl ammonium bromide in isopropanol, it reacts with lead to form a photoluminescent lead bromide perovskite (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c06058) .

Read the full article on cen.acs.org
lead detection spray green light

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BNR Nieuwsradio – Slim apparaatje laat meteen zien of ergens lood in zit

Wetenschap Vandaag BNR logo groot

Lumetallix werd recent besproken in de BNR Nieuwsradio podcast over innovatieve technologieën voor het detecteren van loodvervuiling.

Over de aflevering
Deze week werden de winnaars van de Amsterdam Science Innovation Award bekend gemaakt. Eén van de kanshebbers is Lukas Helmbrecht, van de UvA en AMOLF. Hij heeft iets ontwikkeld waarmee loodvervuiling heel makkelijk en goedkoop gedetecteerd kan worden.

We bespreken hoe groot het probleem met loodvervuiling is en welke oplossing hij onder de naam Lumetallix heeft ontwikkeld.

Lees hier meer over de Amsterdam Science Innovation Award


Luister de volledige aflevering op bnr.nl of luister hier:


Lumetallix BNR Nieuwsradio

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I Went Down a Lead-Testing Rabbit Hole. Here’s What You Need to Know About Home Tests.

You’ve probably heard about potential lead contamination in tumblers, drinking water, chocolate, packaged lunches, and even baby food. The cause for concern is justified. Lead is a potent neurotoxin, and there’s no safe level to ingest. The metal is particularly harmful to childhood development.

The good news is that in the United States, lead can no longer be added to many common products. Consequently, instances of lead poisoning among children have declined significantly over the past several decades.

Yet lead still persists on stuff we come into contact with every day, like old paint, dishes, and water pipes. Lead can also show up in food products and cosmetics via contamination. This often happens in cheap imported goods from countries with fewer regulations.

Unfortunately, if you are curious or concerned about lead being in something you own, most home-testing options are limited. Even tests recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency have been difficult to use. They are often prone to user error and expensive per test.

A New Method for Instant Lead Detection

But what if an instant, easy-to-use, precise, and readily available test existed? Imagine a test that allowed users to conduct literally hundreds of tests at a much lower cost than traditional methods.

I had this question until I came upon a method that produces a neon-green glow when the metal is present. You also may have seen lead-safety influencers popping up on your social media feeds promoting different ways of testing at home. One such method is Lumetallix. The company sells a simple kit comprising a spray or droplet bottle and a UV flashlight. Just spritz or drop some testing liquid onto a surface, and then pass a UV light over it. If the surface glows neon green, then the surface contains lead.

Before you start scanning your vintage glassware and chipping paint, however, there are a few important things to remember about this method. These tips will help you test strategically to keep you and your loved ones safe.

DIY lead test results with little user error

The problem with testing for lead at home is that most tests on the market have a high cost per test. They’re also time-consuming and fiddly, requiring swabs, pipettes, or test tubes. They can occasionally deliver inaccurate results. Furthermore, they can’t detect lead at very low thresholds that may still pose a health risk.

For years, the most widely available EPA-recognized lead test was 3M’s LeadCheck. This was a tube that you crack to activate, rub onto the test surface, and watch for a color change. For EPA recognition, this test required a professional to administer it.

3M no longer manufactures this test, but cheaper versions are widely available on Amazon. They typically contain an orange-yellow swab of the same chemical. However, they are known for being unreliable, as The New York Times reported during the Stanley tumbler scare in January 2024.

Although the neon-green testing method used by Lumetallix is not yet EPA-recognized, it purportedly produces no false positives. This is because the solution reacts only with lead. This method can detect as little as a single nanogram of lead. This makes it significantly more sensitive than swab tests, according to Lumetallix.

The test’s signature glow is due to a compound called methylammonium bromide in the kit’s spray or droplet bottle. Wim Noorduin, a chemist at the Dutch research center AMOLF, helped develop Lumetallix. He told me in a video interview that this colorless salt bonds with lead crystals to form a kind of compound known as a perovskite. These perovskites act as a semiconductor and glow green when you expose them to UV light.

According to Noorduin, these methylammonium bromide tests are 10 times more sensitive than the D-Lead two-part solution tests recognized by the EPA.

Read the full article on www.nytimes.com
Lead remains a hidden

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Spray-on detector makes Lead light up green

The reagent reacts with lead, forming a perovskite that fluoresces green under UV light

Chemical reacts with Lead instantly to form fluorescent perovskite

Lead contamination and exposure can cause “ profound and permanent ” impacts, including brain damage in children, and increased risk of kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, and miscarriage, according to the World Health Organization. While known contamination is relatively easy to mitigate, the detection itself can be a tricky proposition. Standard methods can only detect Lead if it’s isolated and concentrated first.

Everyday items, with a result in seconds.

Now, researchers at Amolf, a research institute dedicated to studying the physics of matter, have developed a spray-on reagent that signals the presence of even tiny amounts of Lead by lighting up fluorescent green under a UV light within seconds. Comprised of methyl ammonium bromide in isopropanol, it reacts with Lead to form a photoluminescent Lead bromide perovskite (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c06058).

“We can even spot nanograms of Lead in laboratory conditions”

Gabriel Filippelli, a biogeochemist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, who wasn’t involved in study but did test a beta version of the spray, says that it is both sensitive, quick, and accurate, detecting Lead in a way that is obvious to the eye. According to the researchers, the reagent does not react with similar metals like tin or copper, and it can detect Lead on glass, plastic, concrete, soil, metal, paint, and more. “We can [even] spot nanograms of Lead in laboratory conditions,” says Wim Noorduin, the Lead author of the study. The color emitted by the perovskite depends on the halide; bromide causes it to appear green.

The versatile Lead Detection with surprising Origins

“What’s special about our [test] is that we . . . just do it in the environment,” Noorduin says. In fact, the researchers were surprised by the versatility and robustness of the reaction, which detects Lead in different oxidation states and with different counter ions. The researchers spent two years developing the reagent, but for a different use—to make perovskites from the calcium carbonate in the shell of creatures like sea urchins. They discovered its potential as a Lead detector by accident, when Noorduin took it home and happened to spray it on his neighbors’ roof.

Read the full article on cen.acs.org
direct lead detection spray

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Perovskite Test | A lead test based on solarcell technology

Lead testing in the field-nieuw

Perovskite Test Based on Solarcell Technology Offers Breakthrough

AMOLF researchers have used the special properties of perovskite semiconductors to develop a simple perovskite test that detects the presence of lead. Perovskite is a material suitable for use in LEDs and solarcells, for example.

Revolutionary Lead Detection with Perovskite Semiconductors

A lead-containing surface shines bright green when sprayed with the test. This test is 1000 times more sensitive than existing tests and the researchers found no false positive or false negative results. This study was published on November 27th in the scientific journal Environmental Science and Technology.

“It is a really cool project and it is quite rare for fundamental research to literally impact the entire world with an application.”

“We have hijacked the technology of perovskite semiconductors and used it in a widely deployable lead test. Nobody in this discipline had ever thought of that.” Says Lukas Helmbrecht, researcher at the group Self-Organizing Matter led by Wim Noorduin at AMOLF. “We are very pleased with these results,” says Noorduin.

Only lead lights up

Helmbrecht took on the challenge and discovered that a methyl ammonium bromide solution works best. As soon as this solution comes into contact with a lead compound, it immediately forms a lead perovskite, which lights up bright green under UV light. Helmbrecht tried a range of surfaces, from lead pipes and paint to lead salts, glass, plastics and electrical wire. They all lit up bright green as proof of the presence of lead.

In addition, Helmbrecht tested more than fifty materials that did not contain lead but did contain similar elements, such as tin, aluminum, and copper. None of these lit up. This indicates that the test is highly chemoselective. The test reveals lead concentrations of one nanogram per mm2, whereas most current tests have an accuracy of no more than a few micrograms per mm2. The new test is therefore 1000 times more sensitive.

Read the full article on amolf.nl

The reagent reacts with lead, forming a perovskite that fluoresces green under UV light

Lead detection spray tested in India

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Direct Environmental Lead Detection

Paint - Lead-nieuw

Although the global ban on leaded gasoline has markedly reduced lead poisoning, many other environmental sources of lead exposure, such as paint, pipes, mines, and recycling sites remain.

Existing methods to identify these sources are either costly or unreliable. We report here a new, sensitive, and inexpensive lead detection method that relies on the formation of a perovskite semiconductor. The method only requires spraying the material of interest with methylammonium bromide and observing whether photoluminesence occurs under UV light to indicate the presence of lead. The method detects as little as 1.0 ng/mm2 of lead by the naked eye and 50 pg/mm2 using a digital photo camera. We exposed more than 50 different materials to our reagent and found no false negatives or false positives. The method readily detects lead in soil, paint, glazing, cables, glass, plastics, and dust and could be widely used for testing the environment and preventing lead poisoning.

Read the full article on pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
environmental lead detection

Lead Poisoning in Adults: What to do?

Female worker surface corrosion plate preparation by sand blasting of tank internal oil

lead poisoning in adults

EPA/L. Koula

A man melts metallic lead waste used in the production of cooking pots, at a recycling warehouse in Koumassi, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.