Heavy Metals

(Campbell, 2016). Two giants in childhood lead poisoning research and advocacy, Dr. Philip Landrigan and Dr. David Bellinger, summarize the adverse effects of lead very completely, yet succinctly: “Lead is a devastating poison. It damages children’s brains, erodes intelligence, diminishes creativity and the ability to weigh consequences and make good decisions, impairs language skills, shortens attention span, and predisposes to hyperactive and aggressive behavior. Lead exposure in early childhood is linked to later increased risk for dyslexia and school failure.”(p. 3).

Mercury is a heavy metal with serious side effects like heart problems, digestive imbalance, loss of memory, breathing problems, ADD, depression, etc.

Lead poisoning has been a concern for many years. In fact, because of the affects of lead poisoning, there has been an extensive decline in its use. "Many people believe lead poisoning is no longer a threat, yet millions of homes contain lead based paint" (Heck, J., 2005, para. 1). Exposure to lead at any level is unhealthy, especially in infants, children, and pregnant women and continues to be an ongoing dilemma in this country. I read two articles concerning lead poisoning; the first article is from FineTuning, a popular press and the second article is from Pediatrics, a peer-review journal. In this paper, I will clearly summarize each article by comparing the content of both articles. In addition, I will summarize the attention to

Potential lead contamination from drinking water presents a significant health risk. Recent examples of this lead contamination include Flint, Michigan, a city that experienced a large increase in the number of people, especially children, who exhibited symptoms of lead poisoning. A March 9, 2016 article in the Washington Post reported data from the Environmental Protection Agency that indicated approximately 350 schools and day-care centers across the US failed lead tests approximately 470 times between 2012 and 2015. Seven years ago, according to the Post, a study concluded that hundreds of young children in Washington, DC, had potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood due to contamination in the city’s tap water. The toxin can cause permanent developmental and behavioral issues.

Lead can cause many things such as cancer, strokes, kidney disease, memory problems, high blood pressure,premature birth, reduced birth weight, seizures, hearing loss, brain damage, behavior problems, learning disabilities, and lower IQ for six and up.We can fix this problem by removing lead base pipes, removing lead in paints, making sure our houses and pipes are in good shape, and finally lead tests.If we don't stop lead and drinking water now, then we will get sick or possibly a chance of Sertain death, or the other way with our family members.

The major sources of lead here were gasoline, paint chips and water from old plumbing. After lead was removed from gasoline and paint, blood lead levels (BLL) in children decreased on average from 16 mcg/dL to less than 3 mcg/dL. Residual lead persists in the environment, however. A toxic level is currently defined as 5 mcg/dL. In U.S. children age 1-5, the prevalence of BLLs >10 mcg/dL decreased from 88% to 4.4% between 1976 and 1994 and further dropped to 0.8% by 2010. Yet there are still almost half a million children in the U.S. with levels >5

What are some of the effects of the crisis? For any adult, lead poisoning can cause kidney problems, fatigue, lethargy, depression, and slower reaction time. However, adults require a higher level of lead in the blood to produce those effects. For pregnant women lead poisoning can can cause miscarriages and future health problems in a developing fetus. What about children? For children, lead poisoning affects the development of children's brains and nervous systems.

The improved screening and treatment of lead poisoning decreased the severity of symptoms usually seen. However, the level of lead in the blood does not establish what symptoms are seen, since lead in blood only establishes current exposure. Recently, studies have shown that a long exposure to low amounts of lead may have severe neurobehavioral effects that are not diagnosed until the child enters school (Singhal et. al., 1980).

Lead, a naturally occurring metal and can be used in almost everything. It can cause serious health issues if it is exposed for a long time, particularly in children as they are more susceptible to absorbing and retaining lead in their bodies. Each year, in the United States 310,000 of 1- to 5-year age group are found to have unsafe levels of lead in their blood, which can cause a wide range of symptoms. (1)

* Lead. Lead is hazardous to health as it accumulates in the body and affects the central nervous system. Children and pregnant women are most at risk.

Lead poison can be harmful to everyone, especially children. According to Levin et al., (2008) the U.S was the third largest producing 450,000 tons in 2003. Thus, lead is an attrition that is sturdy and pliable and it has been in used for the last 3500 BCE. In addition, children in the U.S. blood lead levels increase abruptly amid 1900 and 1975 due to the rise of lead emissions, which caused an extensive contamination. Although, the federal laws eradicated leaded gasoline, banned the sales of leaded-paint, prevented lead weld in public water methods, plumbing units, and cans from drinks and food, children are still being expose to lead (Mahaffey et al .,1982; Pirkle et al., (1998 as cited in Levin et al., (2008). Hence, according to Levin

Mercury is a heavy silver white liquid metal. Mercury’s melting point -38.9 degrees c. The group that mercury is in the zinc group and also the isotopes number of mercury is 198. Mercury was discovered by sumerians, mercury was discovered in 265 b.c. in 1639. It fits in because it has a melting point and it has atomic numbers. Mercury is used for batteries. Mercury’s medical issues are highly toxic, and it has fate transportation deposition. Mercury is toxic and makes you get nervous when effected. Mercury is affected because of its numbers and compounds. It causes effects the nerves, digestive, and the lungs. The environmental effects are elemental, inorganic, and methylmercury. The greek name of mercury is hydrargyrum wh

Heavy metal poisoning is nothing new. It has been known for centuries that some heavy metal compounds are quite toxic to people. A particularly infamous and widely known heavy metal is lead. Lead has been a particular useful element in early human history. It saw many uses from making jewelry to the height of its use in the ancient world as Roman plumbing. Most people would shudder at the thought of drinking water from lead pipes with all the hysteria associated with lead; however, lead pipes or more commonly lead solder are still around today though mainly in outdated water lines that have been grandfathered. Oddly enough, the Romans were actually aware of the toxic properties of lead. Lead workers were even described as being notoriously

The article brings up many concerns dealing with mercury poisoning, a lot of things I had do idea existed. It almost scared me a little, maybe that’s what the author had intended when writing

People can come in contact with mercury in a number of ways. There is increased risk of mercury exposure in the dental, health and chemical industries. People are also at risk of consuming an unsafe amount of mercury if they eat certain things in excess amounts, such as more than 6 ounces of albacore tuna per week, or over 12 ounces of fish like shrimp, canned tuna, salmon, pollock or catfish. Exposure to mercury can cause brain damage, kidney damage, lung damage and various digestive system problems (McCoy). Perhaps the person most vulnerable to mercury poisoning is the pregnant woman and her unborn fetus. Trauma caused to infants and children as a result of