Elements Harmful to Humans and the Environment

Lead

How is this element harmful to humans?

When lead gets into humans our body confused it with calcium and other nutrients that are essential to us. This confusion can permanently damage to body and health of adults and children.

Children

The major problem when in come to children and lead are that there are no visible signs and symptoms like a full grown adult would have.

Lead is most dangerous in children six and under. The growth of bones, developing strong muscles and connections to the brain, happen at a very fast rate in children. When lead is mistaken for essential nutrients in the body while these things are growing and developing it can cause permanent harm to their health, even at low levels.

 It is associated with:

• Learning disabilities(decreased IQ)
• Attention deficit disorder (ADD)
• Behavior issues
• Nervous system damage
• Speech and language impairment
• Decreased muscle growth
• decreased bone growth
• Kidney damage

Higher levels of lead are life threatening and can cause things such as:

• Seizures
• Unconsciousness
• Death

Adults

Even though they are fully grown lead exposure can be a concern for adults as well. Since a full-grown adult body is much larger then a child's body it needs more lead to cause and injury, but the harm lead can do to adults is very serious. 

High levels of lead in an adult can cause:

• Increased Chance of illness during pregnancy
• Harm to a fetus (Including brain damage or death)
• Fertility problems in both men and woman
• High blood pressure
• Digestive issues
• Nerve  disorders
• Memory and concentration problems
• Muscle and joint pain

How is this element harmful to the environment?

Lead comes into and moves throughout our ecosystems.  Atmospheric lead settles into the  vegetation, ground and water surfaces. With the chemical and physical properties of lead and the boigeochemical processes within our ecosystem will influence lead to move throughout the ecosystems. Lead can affect everything in the environment and move freely throughout the ecosystem until it reaches an equilibrium (a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced). The lead accumulates in the environment, although in some chemical environments it is transferred in a way that increases its solubility (ex. forming lead sulfate in soil), its bioavailabilty or is toxicity. 

There are three known ways that lead can affect ecosystems.

• Population of micro-organisms may be wiped out if the soil has a lead concentration of 1000 parts per million or more, slowing the rate of decomposition of matter.
• Population of plants, micro-organisms and invertebrates may be affected if the concentration of the lead is between  500 to 1000 parts per million, allowing more lead-tolerant populations of the same or different species take their place.
• At all ambient atmospherically concentrations of lead, adding lead to vegetation and animal surfaces can prevent the normal biochemical process the purifies and repurifies the calcium pool in animals and decomposing organisms.

What is currently being done to reduce these problems?

Since the lead is getting into our environment mainly through e-waste, electronic companies such as Apple, Dell, Hp etc. are reducing the amount of lead put into their products  by removing the cathode-ray tube (CRT) display in there products. This reduces the lead content by approximately three pounds.

Companies are also coming out with programs to recycle their used product in a way that will not harm the environment. Companies like Apple will have increase the amount they recycle 93% by the end of this year.