Haiti’s lead levels ‘a warning for other countries

Speed read Blood lead levels in Haitian capital five times higher than in US - study Widespread problem demands global attention, say researchers Link with cardiovascular diseases ‘must be assessed in poorer countries’ Blood lead levels among the population of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince are on a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSciDev.net - Environment
Main Author Mendes, Helen
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford 11.01.2022
Subjects
Blood levels
Blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular diseases
Developing countries
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
Hypertension
Income
LDCs
Lead
Lead content
Lead poisoning
Malaria
Medical research
Public health
Vector-borne diseases
Haiti
New York
United States > US
Port Au Prince Haiti
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Summary:Speed read Blood lead levels in Haitian capital five times higher than in US - study Widespread problem demands global attention, say researchers Link with cardiovascular diseases ‘must be assessed in poorer countries’ Blood lead levels among the population of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince are on average five times higher than in the United States, say researchers, highlighting the urgent need to address the problem in developing countries more broadly. In high-income countries, lead exposure is associated with cardiovascular disease and higher blood pressure, but the link has not been adequately evaluated in low- and middle-income countries, say the authors of a study published in the journal Hypertension. According to UNICEF, lead is a highly poisonous element that is responsible for nearly 1.5 per cent of annual global deaths – almost as many as from HIV and AIDS, and more than from malaria.