CDC Blood Lead Reference Value
Reads a blood lead level against the CDC blood lead reference value.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Blood lead level
- 4.2 micrograms per deciliter
- Sample type
- Capillary (fingerstick)
Result: at or above the reference value of 3.5
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Under 3.5
- Below the reference value. Not the same as no exposure: no level of lead in blood is known to be without effect.
- 3.5 and above
- At or above the reference value. The response is to find and remove the source, not to give a drug.
- 45 and above
- The level at which chelation is considered, with a specialist.
- 70 and above
- A medical emergency.
- It is 3.5, not 5
- The value was lowered in 2021. Read against the old line, every result between 3.5 and 5 looks normal.
- Not a safe level
- It is the 97.5th percentile of the blood lead distribution among young children in the United States, which makes it a marker for more exposure than most rather than a threshold for harm.
- A capillary result
- Lead on the skin contaminates a fingerstick, so an elevated capillary result is confirmed venous before it is acted on.
What you enter
- Blood lead level
- Sample type
How this is calculated
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Blood Lead Reference Value. Atlanta: CDC; 2021. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.