A cat living in a home built in 1968 scratched me, could any lead have gotten into my bloodstream?

Question

The house was built in 1968, and is also located within close proximity of a major expressway. As such, the soil around the house is presumably very high in lead content, I would think. The cat is allowed outside, but had been inside all day long while I was there.

It scratched my hand twice. Neither time was blood drawn, but both times tore the first couple of layers of skin and caused redness. Is it at all conceivable or possible that lead might have transferred off of the cat's claws, and into my bloodstream?

Answer 1

It will (if any was present) flake off with you skin and won't enter your bloodstream.

Answer 2

Yeah, maybe a few atoms of lead might've been on the cat's claws, and maybe 2 or 3 of them managed to land in your scratch.  

Come on, lead is not plutonium - we all have some lead in our bodies, even if you live 500 miles from nowhere; it's present naturally in trace amounts almost everywhere.    Now, if the whole dang cat was made out of lead, then you might get a measurable amount of lead in your bloodstream, but even then I think that would be unlikely unless one of it's lead claws broke off and remained lodged in your hand.

It takes more than a cat scratch or the mere handling of lead to ingest amounts that would produce a symptom.    You will be fine.