Lead: Encyclopedia II - Lead - Health effects

Lead - Health effects

Main article: lead poisoning

The concern about lead's role in mental retardation in children has brought about widespread reduction in its use (lead exposure has been linked to schizophrenia). Paint containing lead has been withdrawn from sale in industralised countries, though many older houses may still contain substantial lead in their old paint: it is generally recommended that old paint should not be stripped by sanding, as this generates inhalable dust.

Lead salts used in pottery glazes have on occasion caused poisoning, when acid drinks, such as fruit juices, have leached lead ions out of the glaze. It has been suggested that what was known as "Devon colic" arose from the use of lead-lined presses to extract apple juice in the manufacture of cider. Lead is considered to be particularly harmful for women's ability to reproduce. For that reason many universities do not hand out lead-containing samples to women for instructional laboratory analyses.

The earliest pencils actually used lead, though 'pencil leads' have been made for the last couple of centuries from graphite, a naturally occurring form (allotrope) of carbon.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Health effects", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki