Contamination by Lead What Is Lead?
Contamination by Lead What Is Lead?
Contamination by Lead What Is Lead?
WHAT IS LEAD?
Chemical element symbol Pb, atomic number 82 and atomic weight 207.19; bluish color, which is tempered to acquire a
matte gray.
This soft metal is founded in different parts of the world. This metal has been used for thousands years ago by humans (The
Romans used lead for making water pipes and lining baths).
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAD
Dense
Durable
Resistant to corrosion by most acids including sulfuric, chlorhydric and phosphoric acids
It is commonly found in soil especially near roads, old houses, old orchards, mining areas, industrial sites, near power plants,
incinerators, landfills and hazardous waste sites.
Also, people who live near busy roads or land used in the past orchards where pesticides were used lead arsenate may be
exposed to higher levels of lead.
Vegetables such as lettuce or spinach can be covered with lead dust. Cigarette smoke may also contain small amounts of lead.
The paint covers the walls and floors, especially in old houses and apartments.
Clothing worn by people working in jobs such as lead: recycling plant employees.
It can be dangerous to health if it accumulates in the body. Excess lead in the body can cause serious damage to the brain,
kidneys, nervous system, red blood cells in the blood and learning disabilities.
Once the body absorbs the lead is very difficult to eliminated. Children and pregnant women are at greater risk of lead
poisoning. Infants and fetuses are particularly vulnerable.
Kidney damage
Deafness
Learning disabilities
Slow growth.
Digestion problems.
Difficulty sleeping
Body Aches
Pregnancy complications.
Nerve disorders
The lead enters the body from breathing dust or chemicals that contain this metal. Once lead gets into the lungs, is
distributed quickly to other parts of the body through the bloodstream.
The particles that are too large to enter the lungs may be expelled by coughing into the throat where they are swallowed.
You can swallow lead if you eat food or drink liquids that contain it. Most of the lead that enters the body enters through the
mouth, but a very small portion of the amount of lead that is swallowed into the blood and other body parts.
Children are more vulnerable than adults to lead poisoning. Early exposure to lead might happen during the pregnancy; if
their mothers have lead in their bodies.
Babies can swallow lead when they suck or eat other foods or drinks that contain lead.
Babies and children can swallow and breathe lead in soil, dust or sand while playing on contaminated floor.
Young children put their hands and anything else in the mouth, in this way they may ingest dust or paint chips containing lead
without knowing it.
In children not established a level of lead considered acceptable. Lead affects children in different ways depending on the
amount of lead a child swallows.
It is possible that children who have too much lead in the body does not look or feel sick. The level of lead in their body only
can be measured by blood test performed by a doctor.
A high level of lead in pregnant women can induce premature birth and babies with low birth weight.
Exposure to lead, during the pregnancy, infancy or early childhood may also slow mental development and lower intelligence
quotient in later childhood. There is evidence that these effects may persist beyond childhood.
ENVIROMENTAL CONTAMINATION
The weather is one of the largest contributors to air pollution in Lima. The level of solid pollutants, sediments, those who fall
in powder form, arrives in the capital's northern and eastern sectors to 35 tons per square kilometer. Seven times more than
maximum permissible limit recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).
Other Latin American cities with similar problems, such as Mexico, Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo, have an established
system of air quality standards that allow for control and mitigation. Lima does not.
The eastern and northern sectors of Lima are the most affected by the environmental contamination, because the sea
breezes drag all the pollution generated in Lima to the north and east of the capital.
The pollution level recorded in these sectors is closely related to pollutants suspended solids "are the most dangerous"
because of its size and light weight does not settle, are kept in the air and become inhaled.
PREVENTING POISONING
Never allow children to carry to their mouths, paint flakes off the walls.
Avoid storing or serving food on plates and mugs in whose manufacture has been added lead. Instead, use plastic containers
or glass, especially when stored fruit juices, spicy sauces, wines or vinegars that may increase the amount of lead dissolved
natural acids from fruit.
Avoid turning the plastic bags of bread by the setback to store food, because the ink used for printing can contain lead.