Chronic lead poisoning in Iran; a silent disease

The problem would be worse if we consider that even foods have high concentration of lead, for examples vegetables [6], powdered milk [7], bread [8], machine-made lemon juice [9] and tomato paste [10], peanut [11], raw milk [12] and black tea [13,14] as well as many fishes from Caspian sea, Persian gulf, and farmed fishes may have higher levels of lead [15-17]. Studies from Iran have confirmed that source of drinking water such as water wells, cistern in rural area and ground waters of some area contain lead because of many of industrial waste materials leak into underground water resources [18-20]. Besides we should be afraid of leakage of trace metal from corrosion of municipal drinking water distribution in the cities.Make up products are another source of lead. Traditional eye make ups such as powder of Surma and powders of Kohl, which are used in Iran and other Middle East countries, contain lead and due to the long time contact with skin and eye mucosa they can cause symptoms of lead toxicity in blood and eye [21]. Although in some countries, addition of compounds containing lead and other toxic metals to toys are prohibited but results of some surveys in Iran showed that plastic toys and other PVC products manufactured for children in some area are contaminated with lead [22]. Another concern of lead exposure and lead toxicity is due to addition of lead to opium which may be a concern of opium addicted people [23,24].Lead sources even available in medical products and drugs, for example some oral herbal drops which is available in markets and Amalgam of tooth restoration are other materials around us that make us in great danger of lead toxicity [25,26].In another study, it was reported that 40% of randomly selected children had high level of lead in their blood which clearly show importance of screening test for lead poisoning in the population [27].In general, data from Iran clearly show that everyone is in great danger of exposure and lead toxicity. Becaus