Lead
By: Kilee Smith and Kaytee Grider
Background Facts:
what is a heavy medal and why is it one?
Ways humans can come in to contact with Lead:
You can come into contact by breathing in dust particles, swallowing particles, and cigarette smoke which contains lead.
Where can lead be found naturally and synthetically?
Why is it harmful to humans and what are the effects?
When lead gets inside the body, the body confuses it with calcium and other essential nutrients. This confusion can cause permanent damage to the health of both children and adults. That is why it is so harmful to humans.
Adult's
Adults can have fertility problems in both men and women, high blood pressure, digestive issues, nerve disorders, memory and concentration problems, muscle and joint pain
Children
Children can have learning disabilities resulting in a decreased intelligence (decreased IQ), attention deficit disorder, behavior issues, nervous system damage, speech and language impairment, decreased muscle growth, decreased bone growth, and kidney damage
The effects on the environment:
Not only has gasoline lead concentrations in the environment raised.
Lead can end up in water and soils through corrosion of leaded pipelines in a water transporting system and through corrosion of leaded paints. It cannot be broken down.
Lead accumulates in the bodies of water organism and soil organisms. These will experience health effects from lead poisoning. Health effects on shellfish can take place even when only very small concentrations of lead are present. Body functions of phytoplankton can be disturbed when lead interferes. Phytoplankton is an important source of oxygen production in seas and many larger sea-animals eat it.
Soil functions are disturbed by lead intervention, especially near highways and farmlands, where extreme concentrations may be present. Soil organisms than suffer from lead poisoning, too.
It can accumulate in individual organisms, but also in entire food chains.
An exposure to lead can be by coming in contact with lead pencils
Case Study:
How has exposure been reduced?
It has been reduced by if the house was built before 1978 the person selling that house has to let the new owners know that their may be lead paint or in this case paint exposure. Before remodeling, ask a trained professional to test the paint in your house, If lead is in the paint then you can learn how to handle it safely. If the paint in the home starts to chip pick it up so your child or children do not ingest it.
where is it used?
It is used in Bullets, Batteries, Pipes, and Roofing Materials. In the past it was used in Gasoline, Paint, and Pencils.
How can you protect yourself and your family from exposure to Lead?
You can protect yourself by talking to a local health department about testing paint and dust from your home, regularly wipe down components, prevent children from playing in bare soil, and keeping children and pregnant women out of houses built before 1978.
Cites:
- "Lead." Lead. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/lead>.
- "Prevention Tips." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 June 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips.htm>.
- "Public Health - Seattle & King County." Lead and Its Human Effects. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. <http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/toxic/LeadGeneral.aspx>.
- "Lead - Pb." Lead (Pb). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/pb.htm>.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5022a1.htm>.