Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
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Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#2[flagged]
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#3Lead poisoning in Australian mining towns is a surprisingly contentious issue. Town mayors usually try to cover up and deny any evidence of lead poisoning, because without the mines, there is no town.
The broken hill that the town of Broken Hill is named after no longer exists. The mullock heap pictured in the article is all that remains: the entire hill was dug away when the original mine was active. As you can see on OpenStreetMap[0], the slag heap sits right in the middle of the town, with lead-laden dust blowing down into the streets and backyards every time the wind picks up.
The other town mentioned in the article is Mount Isa[1]. Mount Isa has both a mine and a smelter, both located immediately to the west of the town. The prevailing winds are westerlies, so again the toxic dust falls on the town.
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#4It's really scary how a tiny amount of a mineral can permanently damage the human mind. I have to admit there's a part of me that almost wants to be skeptical, that mg of a rock could overcome the wonderous self-aware human mind. Every so often I have to remind that skeptical piece of me that it's an idiot and that every human alive is wildly fragile to any number of elements and chemicals.
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Onto the article, if I ran a production software system, I'd be collecting data on the health of all my servers.
If I ran a country, I'd collect health data on all my towns (perhaps blood tests of 1% of the population each year).
Of course in malfunctioning environments, measurement is scary to leaders because it can give evidence that they aren't doing their job.
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#5It's really scary how a tiny amount of a mineral can permanently damage the human mind. I have to admit there's a part of me that almost wants to be skeptical, that mg of a rock could overcome the wonderous self-aware human mind. Every so often I have to remind that skeptical piece of me that it's an idiot and that every human alive is wildly fragile to any number of elements and chemicals. ------ Onto the article, i…
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Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#6It's really scary how a tiny amount of a mineral can permanently damage the human mind. I have to admit there's a part of me that almost wants to be skeptical, that mg of a rock could overcome the wonderous self-aware human mind. Every so often I have to remind that skeptical piece of me that it's an idiot and that every human alive is wildly fragile to any number of elements and chemicals. ------ Onto the article, i…
Public Health agencies (at least in the US) collecting data about residents is a thing. People just get a little touchy about government programs collecting all this data ...
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#7Lead poisoning in Australian mining towns is a surprisingly contentious issue. Town mayors usually try to cover up and deny any evidence of lead poisoning, because without the mines, there is no town. The broken hill that the town of Broken Hill is named after no longer exists. The mullock heap pictured in the article is all that remains: the entire hill was dug away when the original mine was active. As you can see…
> Town mayors usually try to cover up and deny any evidence of lead poisoning
After moving to the West from a developing country was surprised to discover that things our politicians do for a big bribe western politicians sometimes do for free.
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#8Sparrow in the lead mine, if it were
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#9It's really scary how a tiny amount of a mineral can permanently damage the human mind. I have to admit there's a part of me that almost wants to be skeptical, that mg of a rock could overcome the wonderous self-aware human mind. Every so often I have to remind that skeptical piece of me that it's an idiot and that every human alive is wildly fragile to any number of elements and chemicals. ------ Onto the article, i…
Well as they say, an entire human body is just
> Water (35 L), Carbon (20 kg), Ammonia (4 L), Lime (1.5 kg), Phosphorous (800 g), Salt (250 g), Saltpeter (100 g), Sulfur (80 g), Fluorine (7.5 g), Iron (5 g), Silicon (3 g) and trace amounts of fifteen other elements.
(The amounts are off somewhat but you get the idea)
Re: Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
#10Anyone know a simple method of testing for lead in food? Say a wet chemistry method?
I live in California, and I've noticed that everything has a CA Proposition 65 warning label. When I look into it it's generally lead that has bioaccumulated in the plant. What I can't find is how much or how widespread it is in the food.