Exposure to Lead Causes Cardiovascular Diseases in Individuals

By Rahul Gotadki , 27 October, 2023

The presence of certain metals in the environment can cause chronic effects on the health of an individual. The studies published in 2023 have proved that exposure to lead can cause death due to cardiovascular diseases.

According to the study, exposure to lead causes 5.5 million deaths from cardiovascular diseases. It says that exposure to lead is like health diseases caused by small particulates and household air pollution. Thus, health issues arising from exposure to lead can be three times more dangerous than those from unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and others. 

The study also adds that lead exposure in children can damage the 765 million intelligence quotients (IQ) for children under five worldwide in 2019. People worldwide are exposed to arsenic, lead, and other metals of the same category in the environment at moderate levels. According to the American Heart Association, lead and similar metals have adverse effects on the health of individuals since they can harm stroke, peripheral artery disease, and coronary artery disease, among others. Studies also show that these metals, like lead, can enter an individual's body through the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, poor sanitation makes people in lower economic areas more prone to cardiovascular diseases. Thus, as per the findings, 95 percent of the effects were seen in low- and middle-class countries where children were losing 5.9 IQ on average in 2019.

Based on the survey, the global cost of lead exposure was USD 6 trillion, 7 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. According to the World Heart Federation Report 2023, there are 20.5 million deaths in 2021. Thus, exposure to lead is one of the main factors behind cardiovascular diseases and death worldwide.

                                   World Heart Report 2023