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Health & Medicine
Mahesh

27/03/22 14:08 PM IST

lead poisoning

In News 
  • Recently, high levels of lead were found in the blood of thousands of children living around the Kabwe mine in Zambia.
Effects of lead
  • Lead is a potent neurotoxin that causes irreparable harm to children’s brains
  • It is particularly destructive to babies and children under the age of 5 as it damages their brain before they have had the opportunity to fully develop, causing them lifelong neurological, cognitive and physical impairment
  • Childhood lead exposure has also been linked to mental health and behavioural problems and an increase in crime and violence
  • Older children suffer severe consequences, including increased risk of kidney damage and cardiovascular diseases in later life.
Causes of Lead Poisoning

  • Informal and substandard recycling of lead-acid batteries.
  • Increase in vehicle ownership, combined with the lack of vehicle battery recycling regulation and infrastructure.
  • Workers in dangerous and often illegal recycling operations break open battery cases, spill acid and lead dust in the soil.
  • They also smelt the recovered lead in crude, open-air furnaces that emit toxic fumes poisoning the surrounding community
About Lead 
  • Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time.
  • Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing foetus.
  • WHO has identified lead as 1 of 10 chemicals of major public health concern.
  • WHO has joined with  the United Nations Environment Programme to form the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint.

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