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Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

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Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#181
post #94
post #24

I can't give a cite for the following I read it in either a newspaper or magazine probably 30+ years ago. There was a school district in a small town that for the first time gave IQ tests to all of the children in some younger age group, I think around 7 or 8. The results showed a several point difference between the white kids and the Black kids. The district wrote this off as due to cultural bias in the tests. One…

What is the vector for lead exposure from paint? Do we think they are all eating it, or that their parents/landlords are constantly sanding it for some reason and not simply painting over it? edit: Why am I being downvoted?

It's not so much from walls, but dust from joints around windows and doors.

But seriously: we vaporized 200,000 tons a year in gasoline. Where do you think it all went? Places with lots of cars: cities. Definitely do not eat food grown in a city garden- always use raised planters filled with country dirt.

https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/epa-requires-phase-out-...

See figure 2 here:

https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/the-hour-of-lead.pdf

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#182
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, lead paint actually tastes sweet, which can explain why kids who don't know better will eat it.

Why do you think lead paint tastes sweet?

The Romans used lead acetate as a sweetener[0], but the exact compounds used in lead paint are different. It doesn't seem that those are sweet.[1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate

[1] https://healthyindoors.com/2018/11/lead-paint-sweet-aint/

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#183
post #24

I can't give a cite for the following I read it in either a newspaper or magazine probably 30+ years ago. There was a school district in a small town that for the first time gave IQ tests to all of the children in some younger age group, I think around 7 or 8. The results showed a several point difference between the white kids and the Black kids. The district wrote this off as due to cultural bias in the tests. One…

> I can't give a cite for the following

Because this did not actually happen.

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#184
post #146
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And of course one could bite them onto the string. I did it quite a few times.

I still do this. Is that a problem? Tungsten weights break easily and cost much more while having less SKU available

Just so we don't misunderstand, are you saying you actively chew lead?

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think lead paint tastes sweet?

The Romans used lead acetate as a sweetener[0], but the exact compounds used in lead paint are different. It doesn't seem that those are sweet.[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate [1] https://healthyindoors.com/2018/11/lead-paint-sweet-aint/

There are indications that lead acetate (which is only mildly sweet) was occasionally used as a drier in oil-based paints a long time ago. But I've seen no good evidence regarding how common this may have been.

But even if that's true, lead acetate would have been used only in tiny quantities (like any other metallic drier). And lead acetate degrades rapidly, so there wouldn't be any lead acetate left in the paint after a short time anyway.

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#186
post #94
post #24

I can't give a cite for the following I read it in either a newspaper or magazine probably 30+ years ago. There was a school district in a small town that for the first time gave IQ tests to all of the children in some younger age group, I think around 7 or 8. The results showed a several point difference between the white kids and the Black kids. The district wrote this off as due to cultural bias in the tests. One…

What is the vector for lead exposure from paint? Do we think they are all eating it, or that their parents/landlords are constantly sanding it for some reason and not simply painting over it? edit: Why am I being downvoted?

I believe that the major vector indoors is dust coming from the lead paint on windows and window sills. When the wear surfaces rub against each other, a small amount of lead paint dust is created and inhaled or ingested by children.

Outdoors, the problem is the lead dust in the soil. Chickens are getting lead poisoning in urban areas:

https://now.tufts.edu/articles/backyard-chickens-and-risk-le...

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#187
"The image of the lead-poisoned child as abnormal or neglected is not only wrong, but it was intentionally placed in the American psyche by the lead industry itself, which had a vested interest in shifting the blame from their products, said Rosner, co-author of the book "Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America's Children."

. . .

In some of the more odious of their internal communications on the topic, a top official at the trade group representing lead paint manufacturers in the 1950s described lead poisoning as a problem "of the slums" confined to "Negro and Puerto Rican" children with "relatively ineducable" parents who could not be trusted to protect them, Rosner's research revealed."

https://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/2015/10/5_common_lead_po...

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it's uplifting story and I can easily believe that higher lead exposure for Black kids over white kids led to lower IQ results in tests in that specific case, there are no school districts in US with no gap between white and Black students. So far there has not been identified single parameter that explains White/Black gap and not for the lack of trying.

>So far there has not been identified single parameter that explains White/Black gap and not for the lack of trying. Actually there has been, we're just not allowed to apply the components of the explanation to this context, so we continue on a fruitless search in every other direction, spending money, contorting society, and increasingly tearing down achievers in a misguided attempt to bring up the underperformers.…

Your claims seem to be both racist and unfounded.

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#189

In western nations, a big contributor to lead in blood is ceramic items.[1] The 'clear' coating on the outside of cups, mugs, teapots, etc. often contains lead, and slightly acidic drinks or water will cause it to leach out. That has a much bigger impact than leaded paint, because you typically don't lick your paint. Lead glaze is most often used in artisan, novelty or complex items, because the lead oxide acts as a…

And decorative crystals, too. Beads, rhinestones, etc.

It's generally pretty harmless because the lead is so tightly bound into the material. You'd have to grind it to powder to get bad exposure... or maybe melt it (crystals usually have high melting points).

Still, they're slowly being phased out, mainly because of the reputation of lead, rather than a true health concern.

Re: Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning

#190
post #24

I can't give a cite for the following I read it in either a newspaper or magazine probably 30+ years ago. There was a school district in a small town that for the first time gave IQ tests to all of the children in some younger age group, I think around 7 or 8. The results showed a several point difference between the white kids and the Black kids. The district wrote this off as due to cultural bias in the tests. One…

> That lead to (no pun intended) …

The correct form here is led, even though it ruins the potential pun. :)

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