Lead in teeth from lead-dosed goats: Microdistribution and relationship to the cumulative lead dose

Teeth are commonly used as a biomarker of long-term lead exposure. There appear to be few data, however, on the content or distribution of lead in teeth where data on specific lead intake (dose) are also available. This study describes the analysis of a convenience sample of teeth from animals that were dosed with lead for other purposes, i.e., a proficiency testing program for blood lead. Lead concentration of whole teeth obtained from 23 animals, as determined by atomic absorption spectrometry, varied from 0.6 to 80 μg g−1. Linear regression of whole tooth lead (μg g−1) on the cumulative lead dose received by the animal (g) yielded a slope of 1.2, with r2=0.647 (p<0.0001). Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was employed to determine lead content at micrometer scale spatial resolution in the teeth of seven goats representing the dosing range. Highly localized concentrations of lead, ranging from about 10 to 2000 μg g−1, were found in circumpulpal dentine. Linear regression of circumpulpal lead (μg g−1) on cumulative lead dose (g) yielded a slope of 23 with r2=0.961 (p=0.0001). The data indicated that whole tooth lead, and especially circumpulpal lead, of dosed goats increased linearly with cumulative lead exposure. These data suggest that circumpulpal dentine is a better biomarker of cumulative lead exposure than is whole tooth lead, at least for lead-dosed goats.