Lead as Harmful Substance For Health and Environment
The release of the dangerous metal into nature is predicted to have disastrous effects on the environment and everything it comes into contact with, according to research, which is why the European Union has proposed to outlaw the use of lead pellets in ammunition.
Lead has the ability to completely eradicate entire populations of microbes at high quantities, which slows down the breakdown of materials. Plants, animals, and even microorganisms themselves might acquire a tolerance to the metal, permanently altering the genetic makeup of their community.
According to studies, lead contamination coats the surface of leaves of plants, which hinders photosynthesis and respiration, slows growth, or even kills the plants.
According to studies, lead has an impact on an animal’s ability to create red blood cells as well as their central nervous system.
Learning difficulties, intellectual impairment, and an increased chance of acting out delinquently have all been linked to lead exposure in childhood. Additionally, studies have indicated that lead in the blood impairs adolescent and juvenile sexual development. Reduced brain volume to an increase in all-cause mortality are among the effects of lead exposure in people who were exposed to it as children.
Foetuses are also affected by lead exposure.
In a study of a cohort of pregnant women in Mexico City, it was discovered that those who experienced spontaneous abortion, a type of miscarriage that happens naturally within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, had blood lead levels that were on average higher.
According to the study, for every additional 5 ug/dL of blood lead, the likelihood of a spontaneous abortion increased by 1.8.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.” According to a WHO estimate, lead poisoning was to blame for “nearly half of the 2 million lives lost to exposure to known chemicals in 2019″.”
Furthermore, “due to long-term effects on health, lead exposure is estimated to account for 21.7 million years lost to disability and death worldwide,” the WHO stated in a fact sheet it released in August 2022.
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