REFERENCE RANGE CHANGE

 

Heavy Metals Screen, Blood

Order Code:                  HMDB

Fee Code:                    AA245, AA246, AA247, AA248 (CPT 82175, 82300, 83655, 83825)

Reference Laboratory:   Mayo HMDB

 

Mayo Clinic Laboratories is updating their reference range for Lead from <3.5 mcg/dL for ages 0-5 years and <5.0 mcg/dL for ages >=6 years to <3.5 mcg/dL for all ages effective December 13, 2023. 

 

The current reference level at which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends public health actions be initiated is 3.5 mcg/dL in patients 0 to 5 years old and 5 mcg/dL for patients 6 years and older. The most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data shows that 97.5 percentile for blood lead levels in US adults aged 16 years and older is 3.46 mcg /dL. In concurrence with the reference value concept that there is no safe level of lead in blood, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Occupational Health Subcommittee approved lowering the blood lead threshold from 5 to 3.5 mcg/dL for adults.