Lead is a heavy metal that is common in our everyday environment. Historically it has been used in paints, pipes (including connectors/fittings), and gasoline among other places. Today, most industrial uses are limited to lead-acid batteries, a growing market. Lead is a known toxin for humans. Health effects range from mild health irritations and decreased fertility at low amounts, lower IQ and emotional/behavioral issues in milder amounts, and seizures, coma, and even death at higher amounts. ### Top exposure pathways (aka: sources of lead) include: - Paint - Soil - Dust (created by soil, paint, or emissions) - Water / Plumbing Lead may also be in toys, cosmetics, food containers, and other places, but the above are the top 4 pathways. Paint is generally recognized as the predominant source of lead. People talk quite a bit about lead in water, in part because of the crisis in Flint Michigan. Soil is a pathway that gets less attention; however, there is growing evidence that soil -- and in particular the dust that gets kicked up -- is a significant source of lead. There are no safe levels of lead for humans; any amount is a bad amount. Lead is also bioaccumulate which means that it doesn't leave your body. Small amounts add up in your body over time. -------------------- ###Top Resources on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic - [How to Test For Lead in your Environment](https://publiclab.org/notes/read_holman/04-11-2019/how-to-test-for-lead-in-your-environment) - [Evaluating Low-cost Lead Screening Products](https://publiclab.org/notes/read_holman/04-16-2019/evaluating-low-cost-lead-screening-products) - [Chemical/Analytical Methods Used When Testing for Lead](https://publiclab.org/notes/read_holman/12-12-2018/list-of-methods-for-lead-detection-monitoring) - [How much lead is legally allowed and what government agency regulates that? (link goes to CDC/ATSDR website. Scroll to Summary Table.)](https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=34&po=8) -------------------- ### Research Notes on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic [notes:lead!question:lead] ### Questions posted on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic [questions:lead] ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jhondue123456 | "https://www.google.com/ " | Read more » | 8 months ago | |||
| liz | "Awesome! Looking forward to updates! " | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| vanchuyenachau | "North-South truck transporters go two-way with the most competitive rates in the market, transporting goods. Contact us immediately for advice on t..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| jjcreedon | "This is really interesting information. a few questions: 1- love the schematic of the lead concentrations in various food crops. What levels are co..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| jjcreedon | "Hi Liz, We are getting very good feedback. To get the kit ready to market, it appears we only have a few tweaks (manual, etc.). The biggest issue i..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| jjcreedon | "PAH's and heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.). " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| liz | "Hi Jackie, Love this post! How did new people just learning about the kit find it in terms of useability and understanding what was happening? " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| pataxte | "here's a visualization of research findings about lead contamination (soil or water-borne) concentrations in different plant parts. Original resear..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| pataxte | "what are you testing for? Minerals? pH? contaminants? thx! " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| jjcreedon | "good job on this article, very thorough. One other resource that can be helpful is EPA's TRI https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program " | Read more » | over 5 years ago |