Lead toxicity: A potential threat to human health

The presence of heavy metals in dietary and normal food ingredients is a major concern for developing countries from the time immemorial. Lead is one of the most abundant heavy metal and also, one of the most common toxicants. Lead can enter to human body through four major routes namely inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact and endogenous exposure. During its accumulation in body it forms complexes with various molecules and mobilizes. Lead can transfuse and transport valiantly into all human organs, binding with glutathione complexes in RBC which results in causing of acute or chronic diseases that includes encephalopathy, hepatic hyperplasia, cortical atrophy, glomerular fibrosis, cell death, oxidative stress and other lead dependent disorders. Moreover, lead can mimic functioning divalent metals like Calcium, Zinc, Iron easily and interact with variable proteins, DNA sites, receptor sites to inhibit them mechanisms. Lead also crosses the placental barrier in the pregnancy period through the passive diffusion process and reaches the fetus which results in various adverse effects. Effects include defects in learning and memory loss, prenatal death, pre-eclampsia, low birth height-weight, mild cognitive impairment, long-term depression and other unknown effects. It is a matter of awareness as we, ourselves, are deliberately using this natural poison without knowing its detrimental effects.

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