TREATMENT:

The standard method that doctors use to measure lead levels and treat
lead poison ing is to introduce a chemical called ethylenediaminetetraacetic
acid (EDTA) intravenously into the body. EDTA draws lead out of the bone
and binds to it. The body then excretes the compound in the urine, which
clinicians analyse for lead.
LIMITATION:
However, doctors cannot screen people with
this test, because it is painful and requires the patient to stay in hospital
for up to three days.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12316714-800-technology-scanner-tests-for-lead-
poisoning/#ixzz6CtkN2117

METHOD:

Now, Lucian Wielopolski of the University Hospital at Stony Brook and

colleagues have developed a scanner that could provide doctors with a way
of screening people for the level of the metal in their body. The scanner
uses X-rays to measure the amount of lead in bone.

Wielopolski’s scanner irradiates the femur with low-energy X-rays and

measures the fluorescence of the lead in the bone. The greater the fluorescence,
the greater the amount of lead.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12316714-800-technology-scanner-tests-
for-lead-poisoning/#ixzz6CtkXC6CR

LIMITATION:
The low-energy X-rays used by the scanner penetrate only a few millimetres
of tissue, so the test works only on bones or organs which are close to
the skin, such as the femur.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12316714-800-technology-scanner-tests-for-lead-
poisoning/#ixzz6Ctkfmyvm
In general, techniques to measure internal doses of lead involve measurement of lead in biologic fluids.
Tissue concentrations of lead also provide direct information on the degree of lead exposure after lead
leaves the circulation by traversing the plasma compartment and gaining access to soft and hard tissues.

Noninvasive x-ray fluorescence (XRF) methods of measuring lead in bone, where most of the body
burden of lead accumulates, have great promise for relating dosimetric assessments of lead to early
biochemical expressions of toxicity in sensitive populations if their sensitivity can be improved by at
least a factor of 10. The L-line XRF technique (LXRF) appears to be of potential value for epidemiologic
and clinical research related to infants, children, and women of child-bearing age, including studies
during pregnancy (Rosen et al., 1989, 1991; Wielopolski et al., 1989; Kalef-Ezra et al., 1990; Slatkin et al.,
1992; Rosen and Markowitz, 1993). The K-line XRF method (KXRF) appears to be suited for studies in
industrial workers and postmenopausal women, in addition to probing epidemiologic links between
skeletal lead stores and both renal disease and hypertension (Somervaille et al., 1985, 1986, 1988;
Armstrong et al., 1992).

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/67/9/868/4080176

Phytoremediation is the use of plants to partially or substantially remove selected

contaminants, including lead, in contaminated soil, sludge, sediment, groundwater,
surface water, and wastewater. It uses a variety of plant biological processes and the
physical characteristics of plants to aid in site clean-up. 
The overarching goal is to render the contaminant not bioavailable—absorbable by humans and
wildlife.

One type of phytoremediation is phytoextraction, which sunflower proponents envisage, whereby

contaminant metals are drawn up into plant shoots. From there, the contaminated plant parts can
be deposited in designated areas. But despite some promising preliminary studies of sunflowers’
phytoextraction of lead, more extensive research has been disappointing.

another type of phytoremediation, called phytostabilization, does work. With phytostabilization,

soil amendments are added, and the contaminant is sequestered, diluted, and prevented from
becoming bioavailable. “The ability to phytostabilize lead is very strong and well demonstrated,”
Chaney says. “Most lead problems can be solved by treating the soil with phosphate, limestone, and
organic matter.”

Surface waters and ground waters can become contaminated with lead through sources
like the fall-out of atmospheric dust, industrial and municipal wastewater runoff, mineral
fertilizers and pesticides, lead-based paints, and wastes from the mining, metals,
chemical, and petrochemical industries. 
Environmental Protection Agency EPA scientists have ……applying and assessing MNA
as a cleanup tool for contaminants in ground water, including lead.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4675165/

One hope for the treatment of highly exposed children is that chelation therapy can be used to rapidly
reduce body lead burdens and allow them to avoid at least some of the intellectual dysfunction caused
by lead. Therapy involves administration of a chemical called dimercaptosuccinic acid.

An additional approach to preventing or reducing the toxic effects of lead exposure in children is
through nutritional intervention. Supplementation with iron, zinc or calcium, especially in children
consuming diets with inadequate supplies of these nutrients has been proposed as a possible solution to
the problem of pediatric lead exposure.

MEASURES:

https://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/78(9)1068.pdf

1) Phasing out lead additives in fuels and removing lead from petrol as soon as is practicable.

2) Reducing and phasing out the use of lead-based paints.

3) Eliminating the use of lead in food containers.

4) Identifying, reducing and eliminating lead used in traditional medicines and cosmetics.

5) Minimizing the dissolving of lead in water treatment and water distribution systems.

6) Improving control over exposure to lead in workplaces.

7) Improving identification of populations at high risk of exposure on the basis of monitoring systems.

8) Improving procedures of health risk assessment.

9) Improving promotion of understanding and awareness of exposure to lead.

10) Increasing emphasis on adequate nutrition, health care and attention to socioeconomic conditions
that may exacerbate the effects of lead.

11) Developing international monitoring and analytical quality control programmes (36).