Environmental Public Health Tracking: Adult Lead Poisoning Data

Lead is a naturally occurring metal. It may be found by itself or with other minerals. Lead has no nutritional value, but it is useful in manufacturing. When lead enters the body, it is toxic and at high enough levels, it can cause lead poisoning.

Lead was used in house paint until it was banned in 1978. Daily activities that create friction, such as raising and lowering painted windows or climbing porch stairs, causing an impact on painted floors and stairs, can cause lead based paint (LBP) to break down into lead-contaminated dust. Lead dust can also be created when LBP is disturbed through home renovation or repair. That dust is mostly invisible and can be ingested by a young child unknowingly.

Lead is common in industries including construction, mining, and manufacturing, where workers are at risk of being exposed to lead by breathing it in, ingesting it, or coming in contact with it. People may also come into contact with lead through other jobs and hobbies. Lead poisoning can occur when working near lead dust, lead-based products, and lead fumes. Lead dust can also be taken home on workers’ clothing, shoes, or tools, which can expose children and other household members to lead (this is called “take-home lead”).

There is no safe level of lead in the human body. Even very low levels of exposure can cause adverse health effects.

Lead poisoning is commonly determined by measuring the amount of lead in a person’s body using a blood test. The results are measured in micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL).

This Lead and Your Health fact sheet, P-01738 (PDF) provides information about lead poisoning in adults. Visit the Adult Lead For Workers and All Adults webpage to learn more about lead poisoning in adults. This Childhood Lead Poisoning: What You Should Know About Your Child’s Blood Test Results fact sheet provides more information about the health effects of childhood lead poisoning. Visit the Prevention and Intervention for Lead Exposure webpage for more information on childhood lead poisoning.

View the DHS Childhood Lead Poisoning Data Explorer.

We track lead poisoning because it is a preventable threat to adults and children. By tracking the patterns for lead poisoning, professionals can better target their resources for the best prevention strategies. Banning lead in gasoline, paint, and other products has helped reduce how much lead we come in contact with.

Unfortunately, in 2016, there were 18,093 adults in the 26 states reporting who had blood lead levels at or above 10 µg/dL and 40,122 children 1-5 years old in the 29 states reporting who had confirmed blood lead levels at or above 5 µg/dL.

There is no safe level of lead in the human body. Even very low levels of exposure in adults can cause adverse health effects. It is important to track adult lead exposures to improve the health of adults and to stop lead dust from poisoning a child or other adults in the household.

Tracking adult lead poisoning will help identify:

• Lead poisoning rate changes over time
• Geographic differences
• Workplaces and areas in need of targeted interventions
• Take-home lead: households where children or other adults may have lead exposure from lead dust brought home on an adult’s work clothes, tools, or shoes.

The website provides data from the Adult Lead Program at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

• Number and rate of all adults with blood lead levels at or over 3.5, 5, 10, 25, and 40 µg/dL
• Number and rate of adults newly recorded for the year with blood lead levels at or over 3.5, 5, 10, 25, and 40 µg/dL

Rates are adults per 100,000 employed adults in the state or county. All measures are available at the state and county level.

• The data collected are based on the number of adults tested and not based on all adults living in the state or local community.
• Data users should keep in mind that many factors contribute to a disease. These factors should be considered when interpreting the data. Factors include:
  • Demographics (race, gender, age)
  • Socioeconomic status (income level, education)
  • Geography (rural, urban)
  • Changes in the medical field (diagnosis patterns, reporting requirements)
  • Individual behavior (diet, smoking)

• Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Lead-Safe Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Adult Lead Program
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Children and the Environment
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Lead and Your Health, P-01738 (PDF)
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Take-Home Lead, P-01737
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Lead in Drinking Water (PDF)

Click the link below to download the data you're looking for:

County Data (CSV)

State Data (CSV)

Adult lead poisoning

Number of adults with blood lead levels at or over 5, 10, 25 and 40 μg/dL

Wisconsin blood lead testing data from adults (age 16 and over) are reported to the Wisconsin Adult Lead Program. Lead poisoning is defined as an adult with a venous blood lead level (BLL) greater than or equal to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL). This threshold was most recently updated by CDC in 2022. Prior to 2022, lead poisoning was defined as an adult with a BLL greater than or equal to 5.0 ug/dL. Only venous blood lead analysis is used in adult blood lead surveillance. Data are de-duplicated within a given year such that they contain the highest venous test. Meaning if an adult had five tests in 2015, for example, only the test with the highest BLL would be counted and reflected in the portal data.

All unique adults with elevated blood lead levels are reported in this measure.

To protect confidentiality, data are suppressed for counties with fewer than five adults with elevated blood lead levels.

Rate of adults with blood lead levels at or over 5, 10, 25 and 40 μg/dL per 100,000 employed

Wisconsin blood lead testing data from adults (age 16 and over) are reported to the Wisconsin Adult Lead Program. Lead poisoning is defined as an adult with a venous blood lead level (BLL) greater than or equal to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL). This threshold was most recently updated by CDC in 2022. Prior to 2022, lead poisoning was defined as an adult with a BLL greater than or equal to 5.0 ug/dL. Only venous blood lead analysis is used in adult blood lead surveillance. Data are de-duplicated within a given year such that they contain the highest venous test. Meaning if an adult had five tests in 2015, for example, only the test with the highest BLL would be counted and reflected in the portal data.

All unique adults with elevated blood lead levels are reported in this measure. Since the majority of lead poisoning in adults is work-related, rates are calculated as the number of adults at each of the blood lead levels divided by the total number of employed adults in Wisconsin or the specified county and multiplied by 100,000. The total number of adults (numerator) at each of the blood lead levels is the total count of adults at each blood lead levels that is reported to the Wisconsin Adult Lead Program for the reporting year. For example, the numerator for adults with a BLL of 5 μg/dL in 2021 is the total number of adults with a blood test at this level during this year. The total number of employed adults (denominator) was obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To protect confidentiality, data are suppressed for counties with fewer than five adults with elevated blood lead levels.

Number of newly recorded adults with blood lead levels at or over 5, 10, 25 and 40 μg/dL

Wisconsin blood lead testing data from adults (age 16 and over) are reported to the Wisconsin Adult Lead Program. Lead poisoning is defined as an adult with a venous blood lead level (BLL) greater than or equal to 5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL). Only venous blood lead analysis is used in adult blood lead surveillance. Data are de-duplicated within a given year such that they contain the highest venous test. Meaning if an adult had five tests in 2015, for example, only the test with the highest BLL would be counted and reflected in the portal data.

Only adults with newly recorded elevated blood lead levels are reported in this measure. An adult is considered newly recorded if they have not had any tests above or equal to 5 μg/dL in the previous year. For example, if a person had a BLL above 5 μg/dL in 2015 and another in 2016, only the 2015 test would be counted and reflected in this measure. However, if the same person had no records of an elevated blood lead level in 2017, but had an elevated blood lead level in 2018, they would be counted as newly recorded in 2018.

To protect confidentiality, data are suppressed for counties with fewer than five adults with newly recorded elevated blood lead levels.

Rate of newly recorded adults with blood lead levels at or over 5, 10, 25 and 40 μg/dL per 100,000 employed

Wisconsin blood lead testing data from adults (age 16 and over) are reported to the Wisconsin Adult Lead Program. Lead poisoning is defined as an adult with a venous blood lead level (BLL) greater than or equal to 5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL). Only venous blood lead analysis is used in adult blood lead surveillance. Data are de-duplicated within a given year such that they contain the highest venous test. Meaning if an adult had five tests in 2015, for example, only the test with the highest BLL would be counted and reflected in the portal data.

Only adults with newly recorded elevated blood lead levels are reported in this measure. An adult is considered newly recorded if they have not had any tests above or equal to 5 μg/dL in the previous year. For example, if a person had a BLL above 5 μg/dL in 2015 and another in 2016, only the 2015 test would be counted and reflected in this measure. However, if the same person had no records of an elevated blood lead level in 2017, but had an elevated blood lead level in 2018, they would be counted as newly recorded in 2018. Since the majority of lead poisoning in adults is work related, the rate for each blood lead level is calculated as the number of newly recorded adults divided by the total number of employed adults and multiplied by 100,000.

To protect confidentiality, data are suppressed for counties with fewer than five adults with newly recorded elevated blood lead levels.