Dear Saul,
the good news is that your blood lead level will fall as long as you have
identified the source/s and stopped the exposure. Sperm are apparently only
affected by the blood lead level for the 4 months that it takes to make a
sperm. We recommend therefore that you do not try to conceive until your
blood lead level has been below 10 micrograms per decilitre (ug/dL) for a
full four months prior to conception. As to how long it takes to get the
blood lead level down to 10 ug/dL (ie how long will it be before you can
start counting the four months), this is entirely dependent on the peak
blood lead level and how chronic or acute the exposure was. In other words,
if your blood lead level had been 26 ug/dL or higher for a full year before
your blood lead level was tested (chronic exposure), then it would take a
lot longer (unless you have chelation treatment) to fall to below 10 ug/dL
than if your blood lead level was 8 ug/dL one week and 26 ug/dL for the next
week (acute exposure) when you got it tested.
If the result of 26 ug/dL was your first blood lead result then the best
indicator as to how long your blood lead level might have been elevated is
the RATE at which it falls or the length of time it takes to go below 10
ug/dL. If it goes below 10 ug/dL in a matter of weeks then you know it was
an acute exposure but if it takes months, you can be fairly sure it was a
chronic exposure (unless there has been a failure to identify and eliminate
sources and you are in fact continuing to be exposed to lead). Does that
make sense?
The bad news is that, according to the most comprehensive synthesis of
research into lead, the "Draft Toxicological Profile for Lead" [Ref: Author:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service, Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), September 2005
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp13.pdf ]
page 28 - "High-level exposure in men can damage the organs responsible for
sperm production."
Do you have other blood lead results to give the picture as to the severity
of your exposure? Were you exposed to lead at work? If so, it would be
interesting to know what the work was.
Best regards
Yours Sincerely
Elizabeth O'Brien, Manager, Global Lead Advice & Support Service (GLASS) run
by The LEAD Group Inc.
PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia
www.lead.org.au


----- Original Message -----
From: "q22skidoo" <q22skidoo@...>
To: <LeadWorkers@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 3:01 PM
Subject: [LeadWorkers] a question about plumbism and reproduction


Hi. I'm a 35 year old male. Last year I was diagnosed with lead poisoning
(my blood
lead level was found to be >26 at the time I was tested). The symptoms come
and go,
but I'm dealing with them one day at a time.

I have no children, but lately (for obvious reasons) I've been
wondering about my
ability to ever have them. Specifically, I'm wondering A. if a high blood
lead level is a
"death sentence" for a man's reproductive ability, and B. whether or not
there are
likely to be birth defects, assuming fertilization is still possible.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has insight into this matter. Thanks.






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