Summary In 2019, the age-standardised rate of DALYs attributable to lead exposure was 267·5 per 100 000 (95% UI 170·6–373·4). Afghanistan and Yemen experienced the highest rates in the world.
Definition There are two types of lead exposure: acute exposure, measured by micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood, and chronic exposure, measured by micrograms of lead per gram of bone. The TMREL is 2 micrograms per decilitre of blood.
Total sources | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exposure | 552 | |||||||||||
Relative risk | 2 | |||||||||||
Table 1:
Total sources used in GBD 2019 estimation
What is new in GBD 2019?
- •The MR-BRT tool was used to adjust the exposure data for type of data and urbanicity. The data type adjustment was applied to adjust data not reported as an arithmetic mean.
- •GBD 2019 adjustment factors: 0·84 (0·51–1·37) for geometric mean; 0·86 (0·52–1·40) for median.
- •GBD 2017 adjustment factors: 0·90 (0·88–0·92) for geometric mean; 0·85 (0·82–0·88) for median.
- •The urbanicity adjustment was applied to adjust reported data to reflect average national-level urbanicity.
- •GBD 2019 adjustment factor: 1·25 (0·66–2·35) for non-nationally representative datapoints.
- •GBD 2017 adjustment factor: 1·36 (1·22–1·53) for non-nationally representative datapoints.
Deaths
|
YLLs
|
YLDs
|
DALYs
|
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number
(millions) |
Rate (per
100 000) |
Number
(millions) |
Rate (per
100 000) |
Number
(millions) |
Rate (per
100 000) |
Number
(millions) |
Rate (per
100 000) |
|||||
2019 | ||||||||||||
Both Sexes | 0·902 (0·551 to 1·29) |
11·5 (7·0 to 16·5) |
17·6 (10·5 to 25·2) |
214·7 (128·1 to 310·2) |
4·12 (2·31 to 6·48) |
52·8 (29·4 to 83·3) |
21·7 (13·8 to 30·3) |
267·5 (170·6 to 373·4) |
||||
Females | 0·346 (0·188 to 0·533) |
7·9 (4·3 to 12·1) |
6·12 (3·35 to 9·38) |
139·9 (76·4 to 214·5) |
1·92 (1·08 to 3·04) |
48·9 (26·6 to 77·6) |
8·04 (4·82 to 11·7) |
188·8 (113·1 to 274·6) |
||||
Males | 0·556 (0·357 to 0·767) |
16·1 (10·3 to 22·0) |
11·4 (7·08 to 16·0) |
300·4 (187·3 to 423·3) |
2·20 (1·26 to 3·42) |
57·2 (32·6 to 88·9) |
13·6 (8·88 to 18·8) |
357·6 (233·4 to 493·3) |
||||
Percentage change 2010-19 | ||||||||||||
Both Sexes | 13·8% (5·7 to 21·6) |
–12·6% (–18·7 to –6·8) |
4·7% (–3·8 to 12·6) |
–17·7% (–24·4 to –11·5) |
1·7% (–1·8 to 6·7) |
–10·8% (–13·0 to –9·0) |
4·1% (–3·0 to 10·8) |
–16·4% (–21·9 to –11·3) |
||||
Females | 19·3% (8·0 to 31·0) |
–9·5% (–17·9 to –0·7) |
10·8% (–1·2 to 21·9) |
–13·8% (–23·3 to –5·1) |
2·7% (–1·0 to 8·0) |
–10·0% (–12·3 to –8·1) |
8·7% (–0·6 to 17·8) |
–12·9% (–20·1 to –6·3) |
||||
Males | 10·7% (1·0 to 19·7) |
–14·6% (–21·6 to –7·9) |
1·7% (–8·3 to 11·1) |
–19·5% (–27·2 to –12·0) |
0·9% (–2·5 to 5·5) |
–11·5% (–13·7 to –9·8) |
1·6% (–6·9 to 9·8) |
–18·3% (–24·8 to –12·0) |
||||
Numbers in parentheses are 95% uncertainty intervals. |
Table 2:
Attributable global deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in counts and age-standardised rates for both sexes combined, females, and males, 2019, with percentage change between 2010 and 2019
Deaths | YLLs | YLDs | DALYs | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | 22nd | 26th | 17th | 26th | ||||||||
2010 | 21st | 24th | 20th | 25th | ||||||||
2019 | 19th | 23rd | 24th | 25th | ||||||||
Table 3:
Rank among attributable Level 3 risks plus most detailed Level 2 risks of global deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in 1990, 2010, and 2019 for both sexes combined

Figure 1:
Composition of attributable global DALYs by constituent Level 2 causes for both sexes combined, 2019

Figure 2:
Composition of attributable global DALYs by YLLs and YLDs, age group, and sex, 2019


Figure 3:
Age-standardised all-cause SEV by location, both sexes combined, 2019


Figure 4:
Percentage change in all-cause age-standardised SEV by SDI, both sexes combined, 1990–2019

Figure 5:
Percentage of population exposed to risk factor, both sexes combined, 2019