This article presents evidence demonstrating that the historical use of leaded gasoline and lead (Pb) in exterior paints in Australia has contaminated urban soils in the older inner suburbs of large cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. While significant attention has been focused on Pb poisoning in mining and smelting towns in Australia, relatively little research has focused on exposure to Pb ...

Lead (Pb) poisoning causes permanent neurologic and developmental disorders and remains an important environmental health problem for US children, despite removal of Pb from gasoline and household paints. To better understand the contribution of Pb from historical traffic and residential Pb based paint to soil Pb concentrations in Los Angeles, we analyzed 550 soil Pb samples from south central ...

Mining and smelting in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District has caused widespread contamination of soils with lead (Pb) and other metals. Soils from three study sites sampled in the district contained from approximately 1,000-3,200 mg Pb/kg. Analyses of earthworms [33-4,600 mg Pb/kg dry weight (dw)] collected in the district showed likely high Pb exposure of songbirds preying on soil org...

Lead (Pb) has been known to be a cause of human poisoning since ancient times, but despite this, it was a widely used metal in the European colonial period. In this study, the relationship between Pb exposure and the demographic variables ancestry and age was explored by comparing the bone Pb levels of individuals that were of either African or European ancestry, excavated from a British Royal ...

We would like to start by thanking Brian Gulson for taking time to highlight his concerns and bringing our findings to the attention of Environmental Pollution readers. In constructing our response to Brian Gulson’s commentary, we had difficulty in deciphering which of Gulson’s (2014) “submitted for publication” references were being referred to. Gulson referred an article submitted for publica...

Lead (Pb) poisoning is most commonly linked amongst anthropogenically-caused deaths in waterfowl and this is often associated with hunting and fishing activities. However, the exact identification of the source may be difficult with commonly-used techniques. We have studied isotope ratios using Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to investigate the source of Pb in the blood of...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that fasting increases lead absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of adults. Regular meals/snacks are recommended as a nutritional intervention for lead poisoning in children, but epidemiological evidence of links between fasting and blood lead levels (B-Pb) is rare. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between eating a regular break...

Lead manifests toxic effects in almost all organs and tissues, especially in: the nervous system, hematopoietic system, kidney and liver. This metal has a special affinity for deposition in hard tissue, i.e., bones and teeth. It is generally believed that the main mechanism of its toxicity relies on its interaction with bioelements, especially with Ca and Mg. This article analyses the influence...

Certain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium are toxic even in reduced concentrations in blood. Their accumulation in the body causes serious illnesses. The most important heavy metals in human pathology are: mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As) and lead (Pb). The author mentions the heavy metal sources of poisoning, their toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics, clinical featu...

BACKGROUND Routine renovation of older housing is a risk factor for childhood lead poisoning, but the contribution to children's blood lead levels is poorly defined for children with lower exposure levels. METHODS We examined a prospective cohort of 276 children followed from 6 to 24 months of age. We conducted surveys of renovation activities and residential lead hazards and obtained blood l...