Toxic effects of lead on the human body (literature review)

The article presents a meta-analysis of the toxic effects of lead on the human body. At present, soil pollution with heavy metals is one of the most important problems of modern ecology. The constant gain of motor transport in the country has led to the fact that the main share of harmful emissions, including heavy metals, into the environment of large cities comes from cars. Heavy metals, having entered the soil, are included in the natural cycle of substances and removed from it very slowly during leaching, erosion, and deflation, as well as consumption by plants. One of the main pollutants entering the environment from motor transport is lead. Lead is a stable pollutant and clinical manifestations of its toxicity are life-threatening. The analysis revealed lead to accumulate in organs and tissues unevenly. Chronic lead poisoning poses a threat, first of all, to the health and mental development of the younger generation and thus the future of the all mankind. Lead creates conditions for the launch of a cascade of pathobiochemical reactions leading to an increase in the concentration of lipid peroxidation products. Lead absorption occurs mainly in the bronchioles and alveoli, from where it penetrates directly into the blood. Thus, with lead poisoning, the cardiovascular and respiratory systems suffer the most. Exposure to lead adversely affects the reproductive system. The high toxicity and danger of heavy metals to human health, the possibility of their dispersion in the environment dictates the need to control their content in soils located along transport highways with a potentially high technogenic load.

Contribution:
Grigorieva A.A. – collection of material and data processing, writing of text, editing;
Mironova G.E. – editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: December 28, 2025 / Revised: January 29, 2025 / Accepted: March 26, 2025 / Published: July 31, 2025

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