2007 Public Lecture Series - Science at Your Service
May 3, 2007
LEGACY OF LEAD: Preventing Childhood Lead Poisoning
From the Romans to the present day, lead has had many important uses. Its toxicity to human health has long been recognized, from outbreaks of severe colic in 16th and 17th-century Europe, to present day concerns about low-level lead exposure where overt clinical symptoms are absent. While there has been some controversy about the extent to which low levels of lead are harmful to human health, there is no doubt that young children are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning. But what is lead, how is it taken up into the body, where is it stored, and how is it removed? This lecture will review the history of lead poisoning, its toxic effects on human health, how it is measured in body fluids and tissues, and why young children are so much more at risk of lead poisoning. Understanding these issues and how modern science continues to help us elucidate the effect lead has on our bodies will help put the current focus on lead into perspective.