Answer to Question #4522 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

For radiation safety purposes, lead bricks are not needed for shielding of ¹⁴C beta particles. That, however, was not your question, so let me address that. Assuming that you exercise acceptable laboratory operating procedures, we would not expect the presence of the lead bricks to pose any threat to the developing embryo/fetus or to the postnatal child. If you have to handle the lead bricks you should wear gloves so as not to transfer small amounts of lead to the skin of your hands from which the lead might find its way to your mouth and be ingested. The gloves should be removed and disposed of after handling the lead. The lead in lead paint is most often present as an oxide. The bulk of the lead in lead bricks is clearly present as the elemental metal; however, it is fairly common that the surfaces of lead bricks may become oxidized as a result of exposure to air and various chemicals in the laboratory. Sometimes chemicals may be spilled onto the bricks and also react with the superficial lead. Such processes produce lead oxide and other possible lead compounds on the surface of the lead that can be transferred to an individual through direct contact—e.g., by moving bricks from place to place to provide temporary shielding. While handling lead bricks may result in some transfer of lead contamination to an individual, most notably if gloves are not worn, the potential for ingestion of quantities significant enough to present a health hazard to a developing fetus is very small. Most health problems from lead paint have resulted from children chewing and eating chips of lead-based paint present in older dwellings. Reportedly, the lead paint is sweet to the taste, and this attracts children to eat it. If one were to somehow ingest enough lead from lead bricks to be a health concern, the nature of the potential health problems would be essentially the same as those associated with ingestion of lead paint, although the degree of absorption into the blood and the rate and extent of excretion from the body may vary somewhat, depending on the exact chemical form of the lead.

George Chabot, PhD, CHP