Why You Must Get The Lead Out Metal is so prevalent in our society we tend to forget how unnatural it is in its pure form. Take pure lead. It has wonderful properties: easy to form, easy to melt, doesn’t corrode easily. Ancient Romans used lead to make water pipes 1 and water tanks. 2

Lead carbonate, (PbCO3)2·Pb(OH)2, called white lead, has been used for over 2000 years as a white pigment. 3

More recently, lead tetraethyl (Pb(C2H 5)4) was the chief constituent of the antiknock compound added to gasoline to prevent premature detonation in internal-combustion engines. 4

Today, all of these uses and more are illegal in the United States because of the dangers of lead poisoning. Lead taken internally in any of its forms is highly toxic; the effects are usually felt after it has accumulated in the body over a period of time. The symptoms of lead poisoning are anemia, weakness, constipation, colic, palsy, and often a paralysis of the wrists and ankles. Flaking lead-based paints and toys made from lead compounds are considered serious hazards for children. Children are especially at hazard from lead, even at levels once thought safe. Lead can reduce intelligence, delay motor development, impair memory, and cause hearing problems and troubles in balance. In adults, one lead hazard at levels once thought safe is that of increased blood pressure. 5

Was lead a factor in the decline of the Roman Empire? Unfortunately, there may be a secret source of lead poisoning still in your home! Lead is used as a wick stiffener in some candles. As they burn, the lead goes into the air your breathe, and not insignificantly. The Public Citizen’s Health Research Group (HRG) found the level in indoor air sufficient to raise blood levels of lead above the threshold level for brain damage.