Lead Poisoning
Essay Preview: Lead Poisoning
Report this essay
Lead Poisoning
One out of every six children under the age of six are suffering from health disorders due to the poisonous metal, lead. Lead is a natural occurring bluish-gray metal found in the earths crust. It has no taste or smell. Lead can easily be found in all parts of our environment today. Most of it comes from mining, manufacturing, and the burning of fossil fuels. In the United States lead poison has increased because of the lack of knowledge in our society. Lead is released into the environment by industries, the burning of fossil fuels or wastes.
When lead enters the environment, it starts to become a problem. After a period of about ten days, depending on the weather, it falls to the surface. Here lead builds up in the soil particles. Where it may make its way into underground water or drinking water due to the fact the grounds acidic or if its soft enough. Either way it stays a long time on the soil or in water. Months or years down the road after the lead has built up it starts to become a problem for children that play outside of their homes . This lead containing soil particles get on the childs hands or clothing and end up in the childs mouth. After the build up of so much lead it leads to lead poison. Lead poisoning has been an issue since the early 1900s, when the use of lead started being banned from the manufacturing of paint in foreign countries such as Australia. Unfortunately, the United States did not start banning it until 1978, when it finally became illegal in our nation. Today 90% of the lead in the atmosphere comes from the burning of gasoline. This problem has been a large issue since the 1920s, when the Environmental Protection Agency started making laws on the amount of lead allowed in gasoline.
There are many other ways that a child, especially under the age of six can be diagnosed to lead poison besides air pollution. One of the most common ways is when a child eats or chews on an object that has lead based paint chips in or on its surface. Parents can easily prevent this from happening by reading labels or buying objects which are not painted. Another way in a child can be affected is by drinking water that comes from lead pipes. Houses built prior to 1978 have been found very unsafe due to the older pipes. These pipes can