Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

medicalxpress.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 479 posts

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#111

Post by brianwawok »

yterdy wrote: post #103
giantg2 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something interesting to point out is that until about 2014 "lead-free" plumbing could in fact contain amounts of lead. I forget the cut-off level but it was something like 8%. I'm not all that worried about lead. In most places it's not an issue because of how restricted it's been, we have tests for it in products, tests in people, etc. I'm more concerned about plastics, forever chemicals, etc which are everywhere,…

This comment doesn't make sense, particularly wrt TFA.

[flagged]

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#112

Post by nayuki »

amelius wrote: post #41
tgv wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that is allowed because we don’t drink from the hot water tap.

I know people who fill their water boiler with hot tap water ...

I fill my water distiller with hot tap water. Guaranteed to be safe. Yes, I'm talking about a machine that boils the water, collects the steam, and condenses it back to water. It removes absolutely everything.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#113

Post by conkeisterdoor »

coding123 wrote: post #88
jopsen wrote: post #63

While a lot of this appears to be estimates... it's pretty wild of 30% of deaths from cardiovascular are caused by lead. Mostly in low/middle income countries. > It's items in the kitchen that are poisoning them On a positive note: This is something that can be fixed.

How can it be fixed?

If I'm reading the GP correctly, by replacing kitchen items containing lead with alternatives that don't contain lead.

That should be much easier and less expensive to do than eg, replacing lead pipes in the house or town/city that may be delivering poisoned drinking water.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#114

Post by brianwawok »

cj wrote: post #100
doctorpangloss wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are we going to do? Pass a law? To force the millions of voters paying hardly any property tax who bought their lead-loaded homes in 1983 for $40,000 in Los Angeles and San Francisco, now worth $1.1m, to you know, fix them? Then will we pay for the even greater rise in rents? I hate lead, pollution and my incredibly cheap landlord, but I feel like I have no choice in California.

> What are we going to do? Pass a law? Yes! It wouldn't burden existing homeowners because such laws almost always grandfather in existing structures. When they banned lead paint and asbestos, I don't think anyone immediately repainted their walls or replaced their asbestos drywall. It slowly phases out over a number of decades.

> When they banned lead paint and asbestos, I don't think anyone immediately repainted their walls or replaced their asbestos drywall. It slowly phases out over a number of decades.

Kinda. Or, rich people got it replaced right away. Poor people are still living it with it today.

Go test a $500k and a $100k (this is midwest price not SF price) house for Lead and Asbestos. I bet you find very different results on the average.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#115

Post by giantg2 »

"For example, the relationship between lead in blood and heart disease is based on a survey"

What, just a survey? What is the mechanism that causes this? Heart disease is a major killer, but I assume most of it is due to lack of exercise and terrible diet.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#116

Post by brianwawok »

giantg2 wrote: post #102
clumsysmurf wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of my bloodwork revealed subclinical lead poisoning. Part of the investigation was to take the dirty A/C filter in for lab analysis of the dust. I had lead in that filter, so I moved out. No idea where it came from. EDIT: It was an apartment. FWIW, even new apartments can have other issues, like a brand new place my friend was working on had rampant mold issues (built & exposed throughout monsoon season). So you…

Who bought the place after disclosing airbourne lead dust in the house?

if you are renting (in most / all? of the US), no way the next person would know.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#117

Post by [deleted] »

yieldcrv wrote: post #59
raincole wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

reminds me of those comic where the adult explains to the kid that every physical attribute was explained by genetics and then stumbles over his words trying to explain cognitive ones as inherently different was just a funny perspective I’m not trying to start a pogrom with this observation

[deleted]

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#118

Post by sokoloff »

tomjakubowski wrote: post #33
hedora wrote: post #6

I'd like to point out that, although it is illegal to put lead in water supply lines in the US, there is a loophole that allows it in hot water lines. As a result, for certain fittings, most big-box hardware stores only sell the leaded variants, and label them "hot water heater supply line" or something similar.

Why is it specially allowed in hot water lines?

It's not allowed in any water lines used for drinking or cooking. I would read that as not allowed on hot water lines serving the kitchen for sure (and I suspect most plumbers would agree).

The warning on items from my plumbing supply house for lead containing items is prominent, pops up on each "add to cart", and says "This product does not comply with the “Safe Drinking Water Act,” which requires that products meet low-lead standards in order to be used in systems providing water for human consumption (drinking or cooking). This item is for non-potable (non-human consumption) water applications only."

It is allowed in hydronic heating, HVAC/R, and irrigation fittings (which of course don't have a human consumption element to them).

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#119

Post by Modified3019 »

Exuma wrote: post #55
digitcatphd wrote: post #14

Studies like these always make me wonder what the equivalent of this today. Microplastics? Carbon? What else?

Its not gone... pretty much every single person that shoots guns need to be aware of this. Of course gun people don't care about their health and they think with their 45 ug/dL lead level that youre "overreacting"... D-Lead is a very good company for deleading that i use obsessively, when shooting I once called them and talked to an engineer about lead for like 1.5 hours. I think it really surprised him someone was s…

It’s definitely a concern of mine, thanks for the heads up about that company.

For those that aren’t aware, the primer in cartridges typically have lead styphnate, barium nitrate, and tetrazene, among other things. So even if your bullets have a complete copper jacket, you still get significant lead particulate exposure, especially indoors or with a suppressor with high back pressure. No idea if whatever smokeless powders are used are doped with something fun or not. Bullets with exposed lead have additional concerns, as the surface gets flash melted/vaporized in addition to particles generated from barrel friction. This all adds up.

Never clean guns/suppressors with vinegar (acetic acid), because that just creates lead acetate, a highly bioavailabile form of lead that makes elemental lead look safe by comparison, and legally and morally requires proper hazardous waste disposal.

Fortunately there are alternatives showing up now, including some with lead free primers, but damn if it isn’t expensive, and as expected copper/zinc/mild steel bullets have trouble competing with lead for performance because it comes down to mass.

Re: Lead poisoning causes more death, IQ loss than thought: study

#120

Post by giantg2 »

yterdy wrote: post #103
giantg2 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something interesting to point out is that until about 2014 "lead-free" plumbing could in fact contain amounts of lead. I forget the cut-off level but it was something like 8%. I'm not all that worried about lead. In most places it's not an issue because of how restricted it's been, we have tests for it in products, tests in people, etc. I'm more concerned about plastics, forever chemicals, etc which are everywhere,…

This comment doesn't make sense, particularly wrt TFA.

What doesn't make sense?
Post reply on HN