View source for Animal lead poisoning

'''Animal lead poisoning''' (also known as '''avian plumbism''', or '''avian saturnism''' for birds) is a veterinary condition and pathology caused by increased levels of the [[Heavy metal (chemistry)|heavy metal]] [[lead]] in animal's body.

Lead interferes with a variety of body and natural processes.
<br>It is toxic to many organs and tissues including the [[cardiovascular|heart]], [[bone]]s, [[intestine]]s, [[kidney]]s, and [[reproductive system|reproductive]] and [[nervous system|nervous]] systems.
<br>It is therefore particularly toxic to young animals.

As in humans, ''animal lead poisoning'' may be acute  (from intense exposure of short duration) or chronic (from repeat low-level exposure over a prolonged period). Acute intoxication can quickly lead to [[death]].

==Prevalence==
Lead is now a common environmental pollutant.<ref name="Ragan09-JAAPA">{{Cite pmid|19697571}}</ref>  For the birds, a commons source is lead shots, eaten as [[grit]].
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==Routes of exposure to lead poisoning==
Those routes include contaminated air, water, soil, and food, and also, for birds ingestion of grit (lead shots, lead bullets).
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==Prevention==
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==Treatment==
[[File:Metal-EDTA.svg|thumb|left|200px|EDTA, a [[Chelation|chelating agent]], binds a heavy metal, sequestering it.|alt=a chemical diagram of [CH2N(CH2CO2-)2]2 (shown in black) with the four O- tails binding a metal ion (shown in red).]]
For precious animals ;
* Repeat screening, case<br> management to abate sources
* Medical and environmental evaluation,
* veterinary evaluation,<br> chelation, case management
* If necessary, veterinary hospitalization, immediate<br> chelation, case management.

The mainstays of treatment are removal from the source of lead and, for precious animals who have significantly high blood lead levels or who have symptoms of poisoning, [[chelation therapy]] with a [[Chelation|chelating agent]].
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===Wildlife and lead poisoning===
[[File:Condor de Calofornie.jpg|thumb|right|[[Critically endangered species|Critically endangered]] [[California Condor]] can be poisoned when they eat carcasses of animals shot with lead pellets.|alt=A large tan bird of prey with dark brown neck feathers and a bare red head sits on a dead cow in a desert with dead grass and scrub]]

Lead, one of the leading causes of toxicity in waterfowl, has been known to cause die-offs of wild bird populations.<ref name="Lightfoot08-VetClin">{{Cite pmid|18406386 }}</ref>  When hunters use [[lead shot]], [[waterfowl]] such as ducks and other species (swan especially) can ingest the spent pellets later and be poisoned ; predators that eat these birds are also at risk.<ref name="Ferreyra09">{{Cite pmid|19617495 }}</ref>  Lead shot-related waterfowl poisonings were first documented in the US in the 1880s.<ref name="Pokras08-Ecohealth"/>  By 1919, the spent lead pellets from waterfowl hunting was positively identified as the source of waterfowl deaths.<ref name="FedCartridge">Federal Cartridge Company Waterfowl and Steel Shot Guide. Volume I; 1988.</ref>  Lead shot has been banned for hunting waterfowl in several countries,<ref name="Pokras08-Ecohealth">{{Cite pmid|19165554 }}</ref> including the US in 1991 and 1997 in Canada.<ref name="Degernes08-VetClin">{{Cite pmid|18406388 }}</ref>  Other threats to wildlife include lead paint, sediment from lead mines and smelters, and lead weights from fishing lines.<ref name="Degernes08-VetClin">{{Cite pmid|18406388 }}</ref>  Lead in some fishing gear has been banned in several countries.<ref name="Pokras08-Ecohealth"/>

The [[Critically endangered species|critically endangered]] [[California Condor]] has also been affected by lead poisoning.  As [[scavenger]]s, condors eat carcasses of game that have been shot but not retrieved, and with them the fragments from lead bullets; this increases their lead levels.<ref name="Green08PLoS">{{Cite pmid|19107211 }}</ref>  Among condors around the [[Grand Canyon]], lead poisoning due to eating lead shot is the most frequently diagnosed cause of death.<ref name="Green08PLoS"/>  In an effort to protect this species, in areas designated as the California Condor's range the use of projectiles containing lead has been banned to hunt deer, wild pig, elk, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, ground squirrels, and other non-game wildlife.<ref name="leadout"/>  Also, conservation programs exist which routinely capture condors, check their blood lead levels, and treat cases of poisoning.<ref name="Green08PLoS"/>
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==Farm animals ==
Cows and horses are sometimes concerned <ref name="Neathery">{{cite pmid|1107364}}</ref> as well as pet animals are also susceptible to the effects of lead toxicity.<ref name="Lightfoot08-VetClin"/>  Sources of lead exposure in pets can be the same as those that present health threats to humans sharing the environment, such as paint and blinds, and there is sometimes lead in toys made for pets.<ref name="Lightfoot08-VetClin"/>  Lead poisoning in a pet dog may indicate that children in the same household are at increased risk for elevated lead levels.<ref name="Pokras08-Ecohealth"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs =
<ref name="leadout">{{cite web | url = http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/ | title = Get the Lead Out (Protecting the Condor) | accessdate = 2009-07-28 | publisher = California Department of Fish and Game}}</ref>
}}

==Cited texts==
<div class="references-medium" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">

<!-- B -->
*{{cite book |author = |title= Goodman and Gilman's Manual of Pharmacology and Therapeutics|chapter=Principles of toxicology |editor= Brunton, L.L.; Goodman, L.S.; Blumenthal, D.; Buxton, I.; Parker, K.L.  |year= 2007 |publisher= McGraw-Hill Professional |location= |isbn=0071443436  |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFBrunton07 }}
<!-- C -->
*{{cite book |author = |title=Casarett and Doull's Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, 7th edition |chapter= Toxic effects of metals |editor= Casarett, LJ; Klaassen, CD; Doull, J  |year= 2007 |publisher= McGraw-Hill Professional |location= |isbn= 0071470514|page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref= CITEREFCasarett07}}
*{{cite book |author = Chisolm, J.J. |title= Oski's Essential Pediatrics, 2nd edition |chapter= Lead poisoning |editor= Crocetti, M.; Barone, M.A.; Oski, F.A. |year= 2004 |publisher= Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |location= |isbn= 0781737702 |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFChisolm04 }}
<!-- G -->
*{{cite book |author = Grant, L.D. |title= Environmental Toxicants: Human Exposures and Their Health Effects, 3rd edition |chapter= Lead and compounds |editor=  Lippmann, M. |year= 2009 |publisher=Wiley-Interscience |location= |isbn= 0471793353|page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFGrant09 }}
<!-- K -->
*{{cite book |author = Kosnett, M.J. |title= Basic and Clinical Pharmacology |chapter=Heavy metal intoxication and chelators |editor=  Katzung, B.G. |year= 2007 |publisher= McGraw-Hill Professional |location= |isbn= 0071451536 |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFKatzung07 }}
<!-- O -->
*{{cite book |author = Olson, K.R. |title= Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, 46th edition  |chapter= Poisoning |editor= McPhee, S.J.; Tierney, L.M.; Papadakis, M.A.  |year= 2007 |publisher= McGraw-Hill Professional |location= |isbn= 0071472479 |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFOlson07 }}
<!-- R -->
*{{cite book |author = |title= Industrial Poisoning from Fumes, Gases, and Poisons of Manufacturing Processes |chapter= The symptoms and treatment of industrial poisoning |editor=  Rambousek, A.J. |year= 2008 |publisher= READ BOOKS |location= |isbn= 1408670259 |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFRambousek08 }}
<!-- S -->
*{{cite book |author = |title= Environmental Engineering, 5th edition |chapter= Noninfectious and noncommunicable diseases and conditions associated with the environment, including air, water, and food|editor= Salvato, J.A.;  Nemerow, N.L.; Agardy, F.J. |year= 2003 |publisher= John Wiley and Sons |location= |isbn=0471418137 |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFSalvato03 }}
<!-- Y -->
*{{cite book |author = Yu, M.H. |title= Environmental Toxicology: Biological and Health Effects of Pollutants |chapter=Soil and water pollution: Environmental metals and metalloids |editor=   |year=2005 |publisher= CRC Press |location= |isbn=156670670X |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |ref=CITEREFYu05 }}
</div>

==External links==
* [http://www.npi.gov.au/database/substance-info/profiles/50.html National Pollutant Inventory - Lead and Lead Compounds Fact Sheet]

{{Poisoning and toxicity}}
{{Consumer Food Safety}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lead poisoning}}
[[Category:Lead]]
[[Category:Element toxicology]]
[[Category:Occupational safety and health]]
[[Category:Mental retardation]]
[[Category:Toxic effects of substances chiefly nonmedicinal as to source]]

[[fr:Saturnisme animal]]
[[Category:2Fix]]