Thursday, March 22, 2018
M9.4 Heavy Metals
Lead is a very large environmental entity that has been shown to be harmful in adults and children. As the years have passed, it seems that the focus is primarily on the children. Bartem discussed the 4 year intervention on children to reduce lead levels. There are a few steps the Nigerian authorities and local leaders did to make a difference for lead levels in children. The steps they took significantly reduced blood lead levels in children and will help in preventing this occurrence again. Needleman's article discusses the history of lead poisoning in the past three decades. Understanding this history is key in prevention and it is key in honing in on children now. Legislation are doing what they can to reduce and completely eliminate lead exposure. One of the major exposure sources was by lead housing and paint. The most shocking was that in the second century B.C., lead was used as a sweetener in wines and was a vital part of Roman diet. Learning about lead toxicity is a vital component in prevention and elimination of lead in many products now. It has particularly been eliminated in children's products because it has been shown to have developmental delays and behavioral problems.
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It is interesting to note that many of the toxic chemicals are related to the chemical class of halogens, and lead is one of them. I was also shocked as you that lead was used in winemaking too. I agree that learning about lead toxicity is very important because if the people in the Nigerian village had knowledge about it then it may have prevented the tragedy.
ReplyDeleteI was glad to read that Nigerian authorities acted immediately when they found that lead poisoning was the cause of the mass child deaths in the country. This case alone should be the reason why all products with lead should be removed from our environment. I agree, understanding the history is the key in prevention and honing in on lead exposure among children now.
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