LEAD has proved to be such a useful,malleable metal that it turns up everywhere, from water pipes to window flashing and printing type. It went into car batteries, and into additives that gave petrol more vroom. It also helped manufacture bright pigments,used to paint walls, metalwork and toys.
Yet lead is also a poison, and its ubiquity makes it a pernicious one (see article). In the worst cases it causes comas,convulsions and death. More often it acts insidiously. It is a menace to toddlers, who are most likely to ingest contaminated dust and paint chips. Their brains are particularly vulnerable. Only years after exposure are the results obvious in lower IQs, or behavioural disorders and learning disabilities.
The dangers of lead have long been known. America banned it from paint 40 years ago,and by the late 1990s leaded petrol had been...
Continue reading
Source: economist.com