Lead Poisoning in Children: Early Detection, Intervention and Prevention
Glossary
| Term | Definition/Explanation of the Term as Used in This MDH E-Learning Module |
|---|---|
| Acute Lead Poisoning Disease | A current elevation of lead in the blood with or without symptoms |
| Blood Lead Level (BLL) Screening Test | A capillary (finger stick) or venous blood collection for the purpose of detecting and measuring how much lead is in a person's blood. |
| Chelation Therapy | The administration of chelating agents (chemicals) that have the ability to remove heavy metals (i.e. lead) from a person's body to detoxify that person's body. |
| Chronic Lead Poisoning Disease | The cumulative effects of chronic EBLLs. |
| Diagnostic or Confirmation Test | If a capillary blood draw indicates a person has EBLL, then a venous blood draw must be done to confirm the diagnosis of EBLL. |
| Elevated Blood Lead Level (EBLL) | EBLLs of 10 mcg/dL or more are considered to be elevated. Recently, some organizations and states may use 5 mcg/dL to define EBLLs since there are NO safe levels of lead in the blood and evidence now suggests there are adverse effects of BLLs of 5 mcg/dL. |
| Diagnostic or Confirmation Test | If a capillary blood draw indicates a person has EBLL, then a venous blood draw must be done to confirm the diagnosis of EBLL. |
| Targeted Screening | Screening for a particular condition aimed at a specific group or subset of a population because of characteristics or risk factors that this population may have. |
| Universal Screening | Screening every person in a given population for a particular condition. |
| µg/dL or mcg/dL | BLLs are measured as micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. µ = a symbol meaning "micro" or in the case of µg/dL, it means "microgram per deciliter" also abbreviated as mcg/ dL = microgram per deciliter. The Joint Commission prefers the use of mcg/dL; thus a gradual change from the use of µg/dL to mcg/dL is expected. |
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