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Lead is even deadlier than was feared

theguardian.com

41–50 of 184 posts

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#42
post #40
post #35

What is still a safe lead blood value? And is there any merit in "chelation" therapies, as advocated on health websites, like this one, [1]? [1] https://www.livestrong.com/article/199912-what-natural-herbs...

There is not, insofar as lead tends to be either inspired or ingested in contaminated water. For most people, it's the former. The "oral chelators" just bind lead that is mixed in with them, stopping you from absorbing as much of it. That is, Senapati 2001 (the garlic-rat study) didn't give lead acetate in the morning and garlic in the afternoon; they intentionally mixed the two together. That is, oral intake of lead…

Just adding to your comment. Govt regulation for lead workers where I worked was about 1.4 micro mols of lead.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very hard to change anything in GA. Reliability is a much higher priority in aviation, if the engine in your car dies, you stop, if the engine in your plane dies, you fall out of the sky. GA planes also generally last a lot longer than cars, you have Cessnas from the 70's still flying with their original engines from the 70's.

No, if the engine in your plane dies you glide.

Depends on the plane and your definition of gliding.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#44

I was actually pondering something related today. I worry about my cats' paws getting glass in them. Because the pavement is full of tiny pieces of glass, even worse if someone breaks a bottle outside, they won't actually vacuum and clean it up, I guess wind can help a bit..but it's just shuffling the glass around. Glass doesn't decay on a human time scale. Which brought me to the grim fact that there are so many sub…

At least broken glass doesn't stay sharp for long when exposed to the elements.

Why wouldn't it? Archaelogists find obsidian blades thousands of years old that still have an edge.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#45

It's interesting that aircraft still use leaded fuel. From what I can tell this is ultimately due to cost concerns.

Only in priston engines, and it’s mostly due to the fact that changing the engines, which are currently reliable and in many cases have been for decades, could introduce new issues. It’s a snails pace industry due to safety and reliability concerns for the most part. It’s super annoying because i always want the best new thing to go with a plane, but when you’re in the cockpit, it’s comforting knowing the plane is 8000 hours in and nothing significant has changed since it was initially made (other than what was mandated by the maker) so it’s probay going to be fine for your 1.5 hour flight.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#46
post #15

"Looking back, it seems insane. Bluntly put, we took a known poison and – for three quarters of a century – used it in machines that puffed it out in breathable form. Then we drove them millions of miles a day, all over the world, regularly dosing billions of people with the toxin." We are still doing just that, even though we are using milder poisons now.

General Aviation (private planes) are STILL spewing lead into the atmosphere. It's not like they don't have the money to fix it, they just don't care about the externalities.

There is currently a strong effort to move away from leaded fuels, and multiple producers have been selected by the FAA to formulate and sell fuel blends that present the desired octane ratings and are proven safe. The fist certifications of such fuels is expected this year:

https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/where_we_are_now/nextgen_update/...

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very hard to change anything in GA. Reliability is a much higher priority in aviation, if the engine in your car dies, you stop, if the engine in your plane dies, you fall out of the sky. GA planes also generally last a lot longer than cars, you have Cessnas from the 70's still flying with their original engines from the 70's.

No, if the engine in your plane dies you glide.

Which means you better have somewhere you can land in range of 200 kilometers if we are talking about passenger liners.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#48
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least broken glass doesn't stay sharp for long when exposed to the elements.

Why wouldn't it? Archaelogists find obsidian blades thousands of years old that still have an edge.

Anything out on a (well traveled) sidewalk is going to be constantly moved around by traffic (and weather) causing it to abrade against the sidewalk itself (and whatever else is around) causing it to 'weather' away (round off).

Pretty much anything old we find like those knives are pretty much guaranteed to have been essentially buried all at once, and then left more or less undisturbed from that moment on. Minimal physical movement, minimal abrasion, minimal dulling of edges.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#49
post #4

"Looking back, it seems insane. Bluntly put, we took a known poison and – for three quarters of a century – used it in machines that puffed it out in breathable form. Then we drove them millions of miles a day, all over the world, regularly dosing billions of people with the toxin." We are still doing just that, even though we are using milder poisons now.

What are the poisons of today that we allow? I general, from what I've gathered, we have been replacing substances that accumulates in nature with substances that breaks down over time. So for instance, we still do allow ozone but also watch the levels to ensure they aren't too high. I know there are issues with a lot of medication as it goes out in the sewage and there's still a big question mark on the safety of so…

Mercury: Dental amalgams (aka silver fillings) Pesticides and herbicides

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#50
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

General Aviation (private planes) are STILL spewing lead into the atmosphere. It's not like they don't have the money to fix it, they just don't care about the externalities.

It's very hard to change anything in GA. Reliability is a much higher priority in aviation, if the engine in your car dies, you stop, if the engine in your plane dies, you fall out of the sky. GA planes also generally last a lot longer than cars, you have Cessnas from the 70's still flying with their original engines from the 70's.

> from the 70s

"But they still work!" is not a good excuse to pollute.

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