Lead contamination could increase cataracts, blindness risk
Posted 12/7/2004 7:22 PM Updated 12/7/2004 9:56 PM
By Kathleen Fackelmann, USA TODAY
A scientific report released today suggests that older men with high lead concentrations in their bodies have a much higher risk of developing cataracts, the leading cause of blindness.
This is the first large study to show that lifetime exposure to lead in the environment might play a role in the formation of cataracts, a clouding of the eye's lens.
The findings suggest that there might be ways to reduce the risk of cataracts, a condition once thought to be an inevitable part of growing older, says Howard Hu, one author of the study. The report appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.