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Lead is even deadlier than was feared

theguardian.com

61–70 of 184 posts

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#61

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

You can actually still buy leaded fuel for automotive use in the UK, although it is very expensive and limited to few garages around the country - basically it serves extremely limited group of antique vehicles which are kept in original state - unmodified engines which have to run on leaded petrol.

http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/legislation-and-fuels/fuel-informatio...

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#62
post #59

If you suspect you may be exposed to consistent levels of lead, it is important to take a Spirulina supplement. Spirulina cleans out toxic heavy metals like lead from the body.

Reference for this?

Fairly common knowledge.

In fact, because Spirulina absorbs heavy metals, it’s important to get Spirulina from clean sources as you may be ingesting Spirulina that already has absorbed heavy metals within it. Be careful.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#63
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reference for this?

Fairly common knowledge. In fact, because Spirulina absorbs heavy metals, it’s important to get Spirulina from clean sources as you may be ingesting Spirulina that already has absorbed heavy metals within it. Be careful.

That is not a source.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#64
post #3

"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.

Well given that asbestos were known to be cancerous almost a century before we ban it, I'd say it's just the way we usually do things: use what's convenient until the cost is too high.

Want to feel a bit concerned? Carbon fiber particulate (such as what you get from sawing or sanding it) is as bad as asbestos. We love carbon fiber these days. Most of the time it is sequestered safely away in resin, but it's absurdly simple to free it.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#65
post #59

If you suspect you may be exposed to consistent levels of lead, it is important to take a Spirulina supplement. Spirulina cleans out toxic heavy metals like lead from the body.

Reference for this?

Ironically the first scholarly result searching for heavy metals and spirulina covers the risk of ingesting them because it bioaccumulates. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3824145/

The article does refer to several studies showing health benefits for spirulina, although none of them discuss using it to remove heavy metals from the body (it’s not even clear to me how such a mechanism could possibly work).

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#66
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…

Sugar.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#67

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

You can actually still buy leaded fuel for automotive use in the UK, although it is very expensive and limited to few garages around the country - basically it serves extremely limited group of antique vehicles which are kept in original state - unmodified engines which have to run on leaded petrol. http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/legislation-and-fuels/fuel-informatio...

Is there a reason to use actual leaded gas rather than a lead substitute? I don't know that much about classic cars but my dad uses a lead substitute for his as opposed to actual lead.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#68
post #31

> Worryingly, the “precautionary principle” that led to the phase-out, and is enshrined in EU law, is in danger from Brexit. The precautionary principle is not a vademecum — indeed, it can be taken far too far and become an excuse for either unthinking conservatism (banning anything new out of an overabundance of precaution).

It can be, but it manifestly isn’t and hasn’t been anytime in recent history. We’re so far from an abuse of it that radical and prolonged changes in society would be required before we had to worry about that particular slippery slope.

GMO is banned for no reason in EU. Their loss though.

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#69

Does anyone know of what foods mitigate the accumulation of lead or other heavy metals in the body?

Lipoic acid will remove some heavy metals from your body. It can also cross the blood-brain barrier and remove mercury, one of the few things that can.

Is it folk wisdom? Or are there references to back it up?

Re: Lead is even deadlier than was feared

#70
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read up on BPA, drinking from plastic bottles and other endocrine disruptors we still allow in our food supply. As a side note, a lot of people think more quantity = more poisonous. This is not always the case as a small amount can mimic a hormone wrecking our hormone levels over time.

BPA and other xenoestrogens scare me the most. Men's sperm counts have gone down 50% in the last 30 years, nobody knows why, but the estrogens in our products/water/air aren't out of the question. It's scary how little it scares everyone else.

With an ever expanding world population, possibly on the verge of unsustainable, would a plummeting birth rate necessary be a bad thing? Sure it would mean redesigning how we see the world (the retirement and economic models), but we can either tackle it now or when it's forced upon us.
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