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

medicalxpress.com

171–180 of 479 posts

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

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just a fair warning that you should close that quarter-turn valve very gradually when there is running water if you ever find a non-leaded version... water hammer can and will burst the weakest of your pipes.

Is this actually a thing? I know there are videos of watwr hammer on youtube (US centric) There are no regulations afaik in Europe in domestic = no-industrial plumbing and sure we have quarter valves which you can quickly turn off. I never ever heard of a bursting pipe because of water hammmer.

When I lived in South Africa and the power went off frequently, the water went off because it couldn't be pumped. It absolutely was a thing in the water came back on. I could totally hear it in the roof.

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

#172

So is IQ a "largely pseudoscientific swindle" to quote a popular article from a few years ago, or is it not? Because if the consensus is that it doesn't matter, then why bother using it as a metric here?

Do you have another suggestion? Many of the criticisms of IQ seem less relevant in this context.

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

#174

Just a data point here, an acquaintance of mine gave himself lead poisoning by visiting the shooting range too often for target practice. I think he wears a breather when he goes now.

Wow -- how often for how long were/are they going?

I don’t know how much their exposure was but I’d estimate they are closer to the skinny edge of the bell curve.

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

#175
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.

I had no idea it was unsafe to drink from green garden hoses until it was pointed out by an RV salesman trying to sell me a white hose for potable water-- in my 20s. I thought he was full of shit, but I was proven wrong.

Hot water lines can't be the only loophole causing lead ingestion.

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

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you ever find yourself cleaning the inside of a hot water heater some day, it will disabuse you of that habit. I'm sure it's mostly harmless, but they accumulate a truly horrific amount of mineral deposits and other weird gunk in there.

They accumulate gunk that was present in the cold water supply.

If its not quite hot enough you can end up having a nice incubator for bacteria

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

#177
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you ever find yourself cleaning the inside of a hot water heater some day, it will disabuse you of that habit. I'm sure it's mostly harmless, but they accumulate a truly horrific amount of mineral deposits and other weird gunk in there.

Looking inside a kettle in London provides the same experience (at least when I lived there). Now we live on rain water and the inside of the kettle is pristine, despite bird crap on our roof and flora in the guttering.

For things like an instapot where you add a cup of water to it, you are actually supposed to use distilled water. I used tap for years with mine and got all sorts of mineralization. It took quite a bit of vinegar to get that off, and now everything looks pristine since I have been using distilled water. You might consider using it for your next kettle, although perhaps the minerals in tap do something to the taste of the tea.

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

#178
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.

I had no idea it was unsafe to drink from green garden hoses until it was pointed out by an RV salesman trying to sell me a white hose for potable water-- in my 20s. I thought he was full of shit, but I was proven wrong. Hot water lines can't be the only loophole causing lead ingestion.

When I moved I did a search not only for garden hose without lead but also without phthalates and BPA. There are a few goodun’s out there. Expensive though, but I also have hose connections that don’t leak because tolerances and decent seals.

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

#179
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You shouldn't drink distilled water for a prolonged time as it will desalinate your body and depreve it from rare minerals.

A banana probably has more than enough electrolytes to counter this

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

#180

So is IQ a "largely pseudoscientific swindle" to quote a popular article from a few years ago, or is it not? Because if the consensus is that it doesn't matter, then why bother using it as a metric here?

It's complicated. Firstly because there are a lot of "IQ studies" that cited in places such as The Bell Curve that had utterly horrendous methodology. Second because there is a lot of cultural baggage around the very concept of IQ, as if it were a measure of someone's intrinsic intelligence rather than just measuring the result of the combination of intrinsic and environmental factors.
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