Elevated Blood Lead Screening in Asymptomatic Young Children and Pregnant Women

The adverse health effects of lead toxicity in children and pregnant women are well known. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has reexamined the evidence for screening asymptomatic children aged 1 to 5 years and pregnant women for elevated blood lead level. In 2006, it recommended against screening (D recommendation).

There were a limited number of available evidence-based studies (24) to assess the value and potential harms of screening and treatment of elevated blood lead level (>5 µg/dL) in these asymptomatic populations. Their recommendation is that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening asymptomatic young children or asymptomatic pregnant women (I recommendation). Other findings we…