There is no 'safe' level of lead exposure. Lead can be harmful to people of all ages, but the health risk is highest for children.

We have updated our Non-occupational/unknown source of lead absorption notifications indicators in the hazardous substances domain. These are the key facts:

  • The non-occupational/unknown source of lead absorption notification rate has decreased from 2.1 per 100,000 (94 notifications) in 2014 to 1.2 per 100,000 (62 notifications) in 2020.
  • People exposed to lead-containing cosmetics or traditional medicines have relatively higher blood lead levels.

For more information, please visit the hazardous substances pages here.