Abstract
The use of biomarkers is widely spread in biological monitoring of susceptible human populations and is also applied to sensitive living species in the ecosystems. Lead, as one of the most toxic chemicals in the environment, can be absorbed and cause adverse health effects on living organisms. To assess its exposure toxicity risks in humans, it is necessary to determine the concentration of the chemical species that can produce such effects, and to measure the magnitude of them. Although the adverse effects of lead to the red blood cells have been used as biomarkers , whole blood is the main biological fluid used for assessment of lead exposure, both for screening and diagnostic purposes as for biomonitoring purposes in the long term. Blood lead level (BLL, B-Pb) is still the most reliable indicator of recent lead exposure. Animals can also suffer from diseases attributable to environmental pollution and may be even more susceptible to lead poisoning, presenting serious health problems before they occur in the human population. In human medicine, the recognition that animals can be “sentinels” of environmental health hazards is not yet widely spread and generally these data are not considered for medical intervention. This chapter reviews the main aspects of B-Pb as the predominant biological biomarker to environmental lead exposure in human and animal populations.
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Prof. Cristina Alvarez for her invaluable work of correction and edition of the manuscript.
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Mañay, N., Cousillas, A., Heller, T. (2011). Blood Lead Level (BLL, B-Pb) in Human and Animal Populations: B-Pb as a Biological Marker to Environmental Lead Exposure. In: Banfalvi, G. (eds) Cellular Effects of Heavy Metals. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0428-2_15
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