Lead – The ‘Miracle Metal’ and Killer
For a very long time, lead was known as a ‘miracle metal’ for its ability to be shaped and to lubricate, and was used in the manufacture of hundreds and hundreds of products over the centuries, including Roman aqueducts, food, soldering, batteries, ammunition, pipes, gasoline, paint, cosmetics and even in Christmas decorations.
The sad truth, however, is that lead is a toxic metal shown to affect the human central nervous system and has negatively impacted both the physical and mental health of many, which is why the EPA (and other state and local regulatory agencies) have limited or banned its use in recent decades.
According to a National Public Radio (“NPR”) article HERE, the use of lead started with the Romans, who used it to line aqueducts and plumb their famous baths. Chris Warren, a professor of history at Brooklyn College, says that Romans even sweetened their food with lead and used it in winemaking to control fermentation.
REUTERS reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has finalized a rule requiring the removal of all lead pipes in the United States within the next 10 years.
Today (10/8/2024), the Biden administration finalized a landmark rule requiring water utilities to replace almost every lead pipe in the United States within 10 years, tackling a major threat that is particularly dangerous to infants and children.
According to Michael S. Regan, EPA Administrator, the White House has made removing every lead pipe within 10 years in the United States a centerpiece of its plan to address racial disparities and environmental issues in the wake of water contamination crises in recent years from Newark, New Jersey to Flint, Michigan, stating that “we’ve known for decades that lead exposure has serious long-term impacts for children’s health, and yet, millions of lead service lines are still delivering drinking water to homes.”
The REUTERS article may be read in full HERE.
According to the EPA’s website HERE:
What are the Health Effects of Lead?
Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. Children six years old and younger are most susceptible to the effects of lead.
Children
Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can result in:
- Behavior and learning problems;
- Lower IQ and Hyperactivity;
- Slowed growth;
- Hearing Problems; and
- Anemia.
In rare cases, ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and even death.
Pregnant Women
Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time, where it is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy, lead is released from the mother’s bones along with calcium and can pass from the mother exposing the fetus or the breastfeeding infant to lead. This can result in serious effects to the developing fetus and infant, including:
- Causing a baby to be born too early or too small;
- Hurting the baby’s brain, kidney’s, and nervous system;
- Increasing the likelihood of learning or behavioral problems; and
- Putting the mother at risk for miscarriage.
Other Adults
Lead is also harmful to other adults. Adults exposed to lead can suffer from:
- Cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension;
- Decreased kidney function; and
- Reproductive problems (in both men and women).
My brothers and sisters, as one born in the 1960s and who grew up during the 1970s, this writer remembers the routine use of leaded gasoline (as lead was an excellent lubricator for engines), concerns about lead paint being used in homes and the propensity for children to eat paint chips, and lead fumes from automobile exhaust. These concerns led to the promulgation of landmark environmental statutes and regulations under President Richard Nixon’s administration, to include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource, Conservation and Recovery Act.
On a personal note, as a former environmental manager for the New Mexico Environment Department, I personally witnessed a tragic situation in which I am convinced that lead poisoning affected several lives.
It was on or about 2008 when a newly-hired employee who worked side-by-side with me, informed me that his childhood home was located, essentially, underneath a busy urban bridge. He acknowledged that his nervousness and need for regular ‘get-away’ or rest periods (among other issues) was the result of having been medically impacted by lead poisoning from the day-in-and-day-out inhalation of automobile exhaust as a child. Although this person was a super intelligent and talented employee, one evening following a social event, he became agitated and (so he claims) accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Was this the fault of lead poisoning? Well, that depends on personal opinion, as only God knows; however, such an act is clearly evil, as even pointing a handgun at a loved one is evil in and of itself.
BOTTOM LINE
Whether the issue is the ‘miracle mineral’ known as asbestos, or the ‘miracle metal’ known as lead, or the ‘miracle drug’ known as cocaine (actually used in the original recipe for CocaCola), sometimes the wisdom of the world gets it wrong. We must be willing to admit our errors, seek the wisdom of God, and make the necessary changes for the betterment of society and mankind.
I thank God that the truth about certain substances in our lives has been revealed and acted upon – even if the truth was revealed and accepted too late for many persons.
The bible tells us to ask God for wisdom:
James 1:5 (NKJV)
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”