In the early history, I did not know that the victims were wine drinkers. Since the "upper-class" people in Rome had wine regularly, it impacted these people as well as lead workers. I was also surprised that the "childhood lead poisoning" has been discovered "only a century ago". I assumed it would be very difficult to investigate what caused the children's disorders due to lack of technology at that time. Thanks to development of technology after, we know that children are more vulnerable for lead exposure. In the 1960s, the scientist found that children start to show the symptoms at dosage over 60Å g/dl. They continued to conduct the study "to discover effects of lower blood lead levels" and the limit level of lead in the blood dropped to 10Åg/dl from 60Å g/dl. The on-going studies still are still required about it. The important fact that we need to remember is that the lead exposure in early childhood will cause the problems in their later life. For example, Fergusson et al discovered "elevated lead levels were associated with poorer reading scores, more failure to graduate from high school". Regarding lead and behavior, it was interesting to see "the recent decline in crime rate" associated to "decreased exposure to lead". It is important to know that lead exposure affects social behavior as well as other health issue. As we have learned with any other chemical toxicity, the best and most effective method to treat is prevention! In lead poisoning, it is significant after they discovered that there was no difference between treatment group and control group. I appreciate for people who supported to remove the lead from gasoline or house building in the late 1970s. After that, we obtained the benefits of health and economy by increasing our IQ! I am wondering if I didn't get exposed by the lead, how much my IQ could have been increased!
An environmental health response to a severe outbreak of childhood lead poisoning in NigeriaCasey Bartrem
I remember that I used to play with soil when I was a child. Unfortunately, not all children cannot enjoy this due to environmental issue nowadays. It is very sad to see children died in certain area. They could have saved more children if they had higher level of education, resources or economic status. As public health students, it is also happy to know that there are organizations such as NGOs that help for this people. Their aims are effective and safer to remediate. Thanks to their intervention, the blood lead level decreased amazingly. This shows we can definitely decrease the lead poisoning in other area as well.
Hi Yeana,
ReplyDeleteDo you know if people living in South Korea have a high risk of lead exposure? It would be interesting to know what other countries do to decrease the amount of lead in the environment. Based on our class readings, not all countries have banned leaded-gasoline, which seems extremely dangerous and foolish. However, these countries may be impoverished and lack the resources to do so. Because lead poisoning is preventable, all people deserve to live a life without the risk of lead exposure.
Hello Yeana,
ReplyDeleteEarly childhood exposure to lead poisoning was surprising to me as well. Especially surprising were the studies in which evidence was found to suggest that even small exposures to lead in childhood could have lasting impacts later in life. I know that lead poisoning is something that most of us should be concerned about, since there are several buildings, particularly older ones, which can have lead piping and lead-based paints. I am certain that in third-world countries, the probability of being exposed to lead, due to insufficient regulation, is probably much higher than it is here. Therefore, lead-poisoning is another example of how the underprivileged are often the ones affected by poor regulation concerning toxic chemical use.