SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2007
Lead exposure and cardiovascular disease--a systematic review.
Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 417 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
417 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Toxic heavy metal exposure and heart health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 324,331 patients.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Prenatal lead exposure and risk of Pregnancy-Induced hypertension: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Re-thinking the link between exposure to mercury and blood pressure.Archives of toxicology · 2025Pooled it
- Relationship between lead exposure and different types of hypertension: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Air Pollution and Temperature: a Systematic Review of Ubiquitous Environmental Exposures and Sudden Cardiac Death.Current environmental health reports · 2023Pooled it
- Environmental toxic metal contaminants and risk of stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Pooled it
- Lead exposure and its association with neurological damage: systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Pooled it
- An updated systematic review on the association between Cd exposure, blood pressure and hypertension.Ecotoxicology and environmental safety · 2021Pooled it
- Electronic Cigarette Use and Blood Pressure Endpoints: a Systematic Review.Current hypertension reports · 2020Pooled it
- Heavy metal contamination in cosmetic hair dyes, dermal health risk assessment, and in vivo toxicological implications among exposed women in Khartoum, Sudan.Toxicology reports · 2026Article
- Serum Proteoglycan Alterations Associated with Cardiovascular Risk in Pb-Battery Recycling Workers Using Exploratory Proteomics and Independent ELISA Validation.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Article
- Beyond genetics: how environmental stressors drive pediatric hypertension risk.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Review
- Impact of environmental heavy metal exposure on cardiovascular disease mortality.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2026Article
- Metal and metal mixture biomarkers across three U.S. cohorts: MASALA, MESA-LA, and Strong Heart Family Study.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Development of biochar-based magnetic adsorbent for enhanced Pb(II) ions removal.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unsupervised dietary-behavioral profiling identifies PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and metal exposure patterns in Korean adults.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Association Between Zinc-to-Copper Ratio and Hypertension in Populations with Differential Environmental Heavy Metal Exposure.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Lead and cancer: a narrative review and risk of bias assessment (2003-2020).Reviews on environmental health · 2026Review
- Dirty Earth, Diseased Hearts: Soil, Water, and Plastic Pollution in the Cardiovascular Exposome.Anatolian journal of cardiology · 2026Article
357 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis systematic review evaluates the evidence on the association between lead exposure and cardiovascular end points in human populations.
methodsWe reviewed all observational studies from database searches and citations regarding lead and cardiovascular end points.
resultsA positive association of lead exposure with blood pressure has been identified in numerous studies in different settings, including prospective studies and in relatively homogeneous socioeconomic status groups. Several studies have identified a dose-response relationship. Although the magnitude of this association is modest, it may be underestimated by measurement error. The hypertensive effects of lead have been confirmed in experimental models. Beyond hypertension, studies in general populations have identified a positive association of lead exposure with clinical cardiovascular outcomes (cardiovascular, coronary heart disease, and stroke mortality; and peripheral arterial disease), but the number of studies is small. In some studies these associations were observed at blood lead levels < 5 microg/dL.
conclusionsWe conclude that the evidence is sufficient to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with hypertension. We conclude that the evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with clinical cardiovascular outcomes. There is also suggestive but insufficient evidence to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with heart rate variability. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: These findings have immediate public health implications. Current occupational safety standards for blood lead must be lowered and a criterion for screening elevated lead exposure needs to be established in adults. Risk assessment and economic analyses of lead exposure impact must include the cardiovascular effects of lead. Finally, regulatory and public health interventions must be developed and implemented to further prevent and reduce lead exposure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.