Experimental lead paint poisoning in nonhuman primates. I. Clinical signs and course.

Lead-containing paints were administered orally to 27 rhesus monkeys for periods of 18-667 days. Lead acetate was fed to nine monkeys of three different species for 9-156 days. Excretion of one week's dose of lead in six primates ranged from 35 to 94%. The animals incurred moderate to extreme elevations of lead in blood, most lost weight, or had depressed weight gains, and developed Burtonian lines, some died suddenly and unexpectedly, and many terminated in a moribund state with profound anemia. Only one neonate had obvious signs of lead encephalopathy. The monkeys' ages, dose and source of lead, and possibly other factors, affected their response to lead.