title: Lead toxicity: An overview of prevalence in Indians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Elements form a basic and natural constituent of the Earth's crust and are released into the atmosphere due to many human activities like mining and manufacturing. Of all, the elements, lead toxicity is a prevailing as well as a growing concern the world over because of its ability to affect multiple clinical functions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood lead levels have been analyzed in a large pan-India cohort of 222,668 comprising of 121,115 males and 101,553 females respectively. The cohort included all age groups from <2 to >55 years old. The analytical platform of Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry has been used to assess lead levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Blood lead levels of ≥150 μg/L was considered high for analysis. The total frequency of high lead levels detected in our study was 1.16%. The frequency of males affected were higher than females, with the difference being statistically significant..
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lead being ubiquitous in its presence and also serving no biological function, has grown today to become a serious threat to human health. The high frequency of affected detected in our study raises a cause for concern. Determining its presence and the most affected geography in any country will aid in charting guidelines on controlling its release as well as exposure.
authors.affiliation: Analytical chemistry division, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, D37/1, TTC, MIDC, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai 400 703, India.
authors.forename: Sandhya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iyer
authors.affiliation: Analytical chemistry division, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, D37/1, TTC, MIDC, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai 400 703, India.
authors.forename: Caesar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.affiliation: Analytical chemistry division, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, D37/1, TTC, MIDC, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai 400 703, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Velumani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007854:Lead / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007854:Lead
keywords: Elements; Indians; Lead; Toxicity