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Brian S. Schwartz^1,2 and Howard Hu³

¹Departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; ²Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; ³Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Abstract
We have assembled this mini-monograph on adult lead exposure to provide guidance to clinicians and public health professionals, to summarize recent thinking on lead biomarkers and their relevance to epidemiologic research, and to review two key lead-related outcomes, namely, cardiovascular and cognitive. The lead standards of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration are woefully out of date given the growing evidence of the health effects of lead at levels of exposure previously thought to be safe, particularly newly recognized persistent or progressive effects of cumulative dose. The growing body of scientific evidence suggests that occupational standards should limit recent dose to prevent the acute effects of lead and separately limit cumulative dose to prevent the chronic effects of lead. We hope this mini-monograph will motivate renewed discussion of ways to protect lead-exposed adults in the United States and around the world. Key words: adults, biomarker, cumulative dose, epidemiology, lead, lead poisoning, OSHA regulations, tibia bone lead, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, worker protection, X-ray fluorescence, XRF. Environ Health Perspect 115: 451–454 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9782 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 22 December 2006]

This article is part of the mini-monograph "Lead Exposure and Health Effects in Adults: Evidence, Management, and Implications for Policy."

Address correspondence to B.S. Schwartz, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe St., Rm. W7041, Baltimore, MD 21205 USA. Telephone: (410) 955-4130. Fax: (410) 955-1811. E-mail: bschwart@jhsph.edu

This work was supported in part by National Institute on Aging grants R01-AG19604, R01-AG10785 ; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) grants R01-ES07198, R01-ES05257, R01-ES10798, and P42-ES05947 ; and NIEHS Center grant P30-ES00002.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 3 October 2006 ; accepted 4 December 2006.