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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ag8n | "The problem is the dilute vinegar they provide won't penetrate all materials ( i.e. Not all kinds of paint, not all kinds of plastic, etc.). So yo..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| read_holman | "Sources / links. It all feels a bit insufficiently conclusive to me. Store-Bought Lead Tests: Are They Worth It? Analysis of the top three home-te..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| read_holman | "Howdy --- This thread is a bit old but it's left unresolved. I have a little experience in this space, both in my playing with these lead testing s..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| xose | "Not yet. We're in touch now ;D " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| jjcreedon | "@imvec, thanks for the input. Have you written a research note yet on your slime/sludge tool kit? " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| xose | "Hi @jjcreedon I personally think this will be a very important contribution for affected communities. At @Imvec we're working on a slime and sludge..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "For a project I was looking at toxins in water and read about sunflower stalks being used for this purpose. There was even a startup in NJ, but not..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| gretchengehrke | "Hmm. This is surprising to me too. Iron-rich clay can readily adsorb arsenic under oxygen-rich conditions (this is actually the root of Bangladesh,..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| stevie | "interesting! I've seen people using clay to filter water in Nicaragua, but I don't have an understanding of how that worked. " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| Ag8n | "I'm very surprised. I've spent many hours analyzing incoming raw material ( often times clays) usually for heavy metals. Clays are often the sour..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| stevie | "Sorry:: A link would be helpful! here's the post @eustatic put up recently on this location: https://publiclab.org/notes/eustatic/11-14-2017/mapkni..." | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
| stevie | "yuck... Thanks for the updates on the site. Sad this is still a problem! " | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "Here's a sample of Water from Bayou Chicot, I think, from 2016. I have to ask Howard. https://www.flickr.com/photos/healthygulf/26540680646/ I t..." | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "Halter Marine is also a facility, a ship / paint stripping yard in the south of that oct 11th photo. here's a video of the plume of metal shavings..." | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "Oh, hello post. Sadly, Barbara is still at it. MS Phosphates pollutes the water, as well, which is my subject area. Here is an overflight photo ..." | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
| gretchengehrke | "Hi @rajanzaveri, What sorts of concentrations and what media are you interested in measuring? Do you have more specific constraints for measurement..." | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
| islenos | "Hi Rajan! I'd love to know if you were able to figure out how to measure these compounds using the spectrometer. We are looking to measure cadmium,..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi Don - why would they be unreliable; false positives? Poor calibration? Any links I could read up on? " | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| stevie | "I think there is a meeting next thursday with the community? I can't go, but I would really like to hear what happens. " | Read more » | over 10 years ago | |||
| geraldmc | "Just got off the phone with Howard Page (of STEPS Coalition). Mississippi Phosphates has not followed up on their promise to provide the neighborho..." | Read more » | over 10 years ago | |||
| ronhuber | "I think those cheap riffle crickets would be great! Can we set a time and date to meet and test deploy one or more? One assumes the 'seeps' w..." | Read more » | over 10 years ago | |||
| warren | "@donblair - is there a way we could use multiple riffle "crickets" to look at where point sources of heavy metal pollution are? Or some other way w..." | Read more » | over 10 years ago | |||
| geraldmc | "I sent Howard a note over the weekend, waiting to here back. -g " | Read more » | over 10 years ago | |||
| stevie | "I don't know Howard... " | Read more » | over 10 years ago |