Lead Poisoning Dating From Greece And Spain

(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).

Mattel is starting to take a step in the right direction, according to Renae Merle from The Washington Post, “Mattel said it was strengthening its process for preventing the use of lead based paint, it will only permit paint from certified suppliers and require every batch to be tested, company officials said” (Merle 1). 80% of toys in the United States are imported from China, according to Renae Merle, and 65% of those toys are created by Mattel. Although that is a step in the right direction, that still leaves 15% of the toys in the United States at a higher risk of having high traces of lead on them, going undetected. Stores like Toys ‘R’ Us that sell toys sold by companies other than Mattel, should be required to post the percentage of how much lead is in each toy directly next to or near the toy so that parents can be aware of this problem. If parents are not made aware of this problem, it is going to cause more concerns health wise. Michelle Albert, a stay at home mom of two children states that “I feel our country should be more careful about the things we import” (Albert 1). She fears that her children may have been exposed to these toys and has no way of knowing until it may be too late.

The author further goes on to explain what is being done about lead poisoning, and finally explaining how to know for sure if a person has lead poisoning and how to have your home tested for lead poisoning. The author pays great attention to detail by providing facts to support the information provided in the article. For example, the author states, "75% of houses and other buildings built before 1978 have lead-based paint. When the paint is in good condition it does not pose a threat. When it chips and peels however, it can make a child very ill" (Heck, Where does lead come from section, para. 1). This article clearly achieves its purpose, which is to inform the public about prevalence of lead and the ongoing risks associated with lead poisoning. This article is not about one specific case of lead poisoning, which is evident because the author talks about the history of lead use and the laws relating to lead use in this country.

Imagine you're drinking a cup of water and every single drop is poison. This could be happening to you. 50% of the United States have lead in their drinking water. This is because of lead based pipes. Lead based pipes have been leaching lead into water which connects to drinking water. It can also be because of the state's water utilities that might have lead in their water. ( EPA's safe drinking water information system database reports, three, 2016 by Isabella DC, USA Today) says Lead can cause brain damage, cancer, seizures, hearing loss, learning disabilities, and more!

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

As a leading plumbing services provider in Collin County, TX, Tri Star Plumbing knows about the dangers that can be associated with certain types of plumbing problems, like catastrophic water leaks and natural gas explosions. But the one danger that is rarely discussed is the danger of exposure to lead in old plumbing pipes and fixtures. For homeowners whose homes were built before the federal Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986 were passed, there is a strong likelihood that lead pipes, faucets and fittings are a part of their plumbing systems; and that means that they and their families are consuming water contaminated with lead.

1900s, it may also be the case that the exposure of lead is also an important factor that affected

If, as seems likely, it was the upper levels of Roman society that suffered most from lead poisoning, some of these effects could have negatively affected those who ran the empire . Lead was in fact used for domestic water lines and in the main aqueducts. Its use was so common that the workers who produced the pipes were called plumbarii, which translates to “lead men” in English. This connection may seem valid, but when examined further the correlation is not convincing. An obvious argument against this hypothesis is the fact that, well beyond the fall of the Roman Empire, even into the modern era, lead pipes are being used with seemingly no recognized harmful effects. A more specific refutation lies in the hardness or softness of the water. “If the water has been flowing over sedimentary rocks then it acquires a calcium carbonate content which not only makes the water hard but also forms a shell inside the pipes effectively insulating them from the water flowing inside.” The land where roman towns were mostly built is sedimentary, so it can be reasonably assumed that local water reserves flowed through sedimentary deposits. With this calcium deposit inside the pipes the water and pipe are essentially not in contact with one another and therefore the lead cannot contaminate the water.

Lead is poisonous because once it enters your body it can form into other atoms like zinc and iron fooling the body into thinking they are there and not carrying out the vital functions they need. Lead atoms can also block neurotransmitters. In the 1920s there was essentially a lead "boom" and marketers began putting lead in everything including shoes, lightbulbs, and leaded gasoline, advertising that it was safe and even kid friendly (in some items) when it wasn't. The lead levels in the factories became so bad that the workers were becoming sick, hallucinating, going mad, and dying from being poisoned by lead. Scientist Robert Kehoe was hired by GM to "cover up" the lead threats saying the amount of lead was a naturally occurring. No one cared about the use of leaded gasoline and other leaded materials until Clair Patterson began to dig deeper into the research of lead in the

Lead is a poisonous substance when consumed by humans, and can cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and kidney illnesses, among other complications. Corrosive, inadequately treated water from the Flint River had triggered the lead's release from old pipes in homes and schools. As the extent of the problem became apparent, many residents accused local and state officials of having failed to act early enough to alert the public to the poison, despite civilian complaints that their water smelled, looked, and tasted unusual.

This lead poisoning problem finally received the attention it deserved in 1971 when the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act was put into effect. This act provided Federal assistance to help communities carry out screening and treatment programs (Chisholm, 1982).

Special EPA mandated procedures were developed by the Federal Government over the last 18 years to safely and properly remove painted or surface coatings containing lead. These include, but are not limited to, windows, doors, wall surfaces (painted drywall, gypsum board, plaster, paneling, etc.), cabinets, baseboards, chair rails, crown moldings, trim around doors and windows, etc. The removal, replacement, and alteration of all windows must conform to these new EPA

Recently, the environment impacts on our health have become a large concern of our societies worldwide. Lead is a pervasive and permanent environmental pollutants and recognized to be a main public health problem; therefore, it has been paid attention by researchers in probing its toxicity. Lead poisoning is an insidious disease which is often detected late after being confounded with another disorders such as gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, reproductive, hematologic, immunologic and neurologic disorders where it decreases the activity of certain enzymes by binding their sulfhydryl groups, or even to replace other metal ions and alter calcium homeostasis (Flora et al., 2006). Kidneys play a main role in the excretion of lead from our bodies. Recent studies also demonstrate that low levels of lead exposure can affect

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)

To please the public the industry also said they would conduct research about the effects of lead, but the research was funded by the lead industry so they skewed the presentation of the results to the public. Soon there were also cases reported of lead poisoning in children from their habit of biting lead-painted toys. This time the lead industry tried to distract the public by increasing their advertisements highlighting the benefits of lead using the mascot of the Dutch Boy Painter and slogans, such as “ethyl is to gasoline what vitamins are to food.” However, by the 1970’s with the introduction of safer elements and the decrease in public support, the lead industry lost its importance in the world.