11–20 of 97 posts
It'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…
Lead 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.
It'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…
Wait until your realize botulinum toxin has an LD50 of just 3 ng/kg.
Anyone 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.
I remember seeing an article a while ago, where some local councils here specifically recommended building raised garden beds for veggie gardens. They apparently found, that in cities/towns older than about a hundred years, the risk of soil contamination can be pretty high, the main suspects being lead and arsenic. Raised garden beds is an easy way of eliminating that risk.
Lead 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…
https://maps.app.goo.gl/aXkHEfX42aNp2yxV9
Combine a large lead smelting plant with one of the world's largest producers of (unenriched) uranium, and a dozen other metals like copper and zinc. Add zero effective environmental regulation on top, and you get us.
According to government data, lead concentrations in the top soil are measured in hundreds to several thousands of milligrams per kilogram, depending on location. The norm is low dozens, if I am not mistaken.
No blood level studies have been done since the end of the 1980s. Thanks to this link, I at least have a reference point from a relatively transparent and accountable society. All I can say, back when I was in middle to high school, it felt like every other kid was diagnosed with anemia (yours truly included), and skin conditions like atopic dermatitis or recurring abscesses covering half the body were very common.
Personally I have never felt like having a sharp mind, but it's difficult to say how much impact lead may have had on this.
This is how it typically looks on the ground, if you're interested:
Don't know why I'm writing all this, I guess to let it be known that there are far worse places out there than a couple of small Australian towns (with what to me looks like very clean air).
Anyone 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.
It'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)
It'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 ...
Also: corporations lobby against funding / legislation / regulation for public health data collection - and then tell conservative voters it's about "their privacy."
Meanwhile, corporate America is selling literally every scrap of data it can to each other, LexisNexis, Palantir...
It's not just other corporations buying up that commercially available data; it's intelligence agencies and law enforcement, too.
Anyone 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.
Lead naturally occurs in the environment, depending where, in the world you are, from 2 to 20 even UpTo 50 ppm. Industrial/commercial sites are common to have up to 150ppm. Contaminated toxic sites way over that, over a thousand. We could go on. But the swabs work as a starting point.
If a building or home in your area is being demolished? Don't open your windows, and don't go outside without a well-fitting dust mask. Never attend a building demolition event.
Contractors and developers are supposed to take measures and inform local government...if they're stupid enough to inspect for lead / asbestos before construction and declare that they're doing asbestos / lead abatement. Every piece of regulation and law I've found uses a very fascinating phrasing - you're required to do things if conducting abatement.
Many states go further and exempt anything under a dozen or two units or commercial buildings. It's an absolute shitshow.