CHICAGO, December 2004 — A study that measured the lead levels in 795 men age 60 and older found that those with the most lead in their bodies were 2.7 times more likely to have cataracts than the men with the least amount of lead.

The researchers measured the lead in the participants’ shin bones, where lead tends to remain for many years. It is not clear what the link is between lead exposure and cataract development, but the researchers speculated that lead may have something to do with changes in the cells of the eye’s lens that lead to clouding of the lens. Lead has also been linked to high blood pressure and dementia in adults, as well as mental retardation and death in children.

The research, conducted by Dr. Debra Schaumberg and associates at Harvard Medical School, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.