Objective: A common method of illegal methamphetamine production uses
lead acetate as a reagent. Production errors may result in methampheta
mine grossly contaminated with lead. Three reports have documented out
breaks of acute lead poisoning in intravenous methamphetamine users. M
ethods: This study measured blood lead concentrations in intravenous d
rug users of methamphetamine, cocaine or heroin presenting to the emer
gency department to determine the prevalence of subclinical lead poiso
ning in intravenous methamphetamine users. Results: Mean blood leads f
or methamphetamine users (n = 92) were 6.22 mu g/dL or 0.30 mu mol/L (
range 0.10-1.15, SD 0.20) and 7.25 mu g/dL or 0.35 mu mol/L (0.10-0.80
, SD 0.15) for the nonmethamphetamine users (n = 53) with no significa
nt difference between groups. Conclusions: The data suggest that previ
ous outbreaks of acute intravenous lead poisoning among methamphetamin
e users were probably related to episodic contamination of methampheta
mine. Subclinical lead poisoning was not found among the methamphetami
ne users presenting to the emergency department.