Why is Lead Bad For Humans?

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Given that humans have been using lead in various product for over 8,000 years (with the first known mining of it in Anatolia around 6500 BCE), you might be surprised to learn that we have known that lead is dangerous and shouldn’t be trifled with since at least 150 BC, when its effects on the human body were noted by famed Greek physician Nicander of Colophon. Nicander even went so far as to describe the metal as “deadly”, writing extensively on the crippling effects it has on the human body in his work, Alexipharmaca.

Sources:

[micahphilson]

Greeks, ~150 BC: "Lead is deadly!"
Greeks, ~100 AD: "Lead makes the mind give way!"
Romans: *_"When we drink wine from lead-lined cups, it makes it taste sweeter!"_*

[BobTheGodly]

So basically lead is like having a kid who wants to be helpful, it's just going to slow things down, mess with things that were fine on its own and take decades to get rid of.

[rev_lunar]

"Though lead has no useful function in the body, it's happy to jump on and give it's best college try." 😂😂🤣

[jameslawrence]

Fact of the day: All fungi are edible; some only once.

[HealedCoyote]

The original term for Lead was Plumbum (as in plumbing) which is why the symbol for Lead is Pb.

[clemstevenson]

Lead is lethal, especially when administered in the form of bullets.

[davidnievesjr.]

"No safe level of lead..." Yet, the authorities in Flint, Michigan will insist that there is.

[richlee]

I grew up next to the largest lead-silver refinery in the world, in Trail, BC, Canada. I also spent some time working there, mostly in the lead baghouse, which collected lead dust. Yes, literally walking around in piles of lead.


It was definitely an experience. We had our blood checked every 2 weeks to make sure that our lead levels weren't getting out of control.


Interesting story! They actually used to think that milk decreased lead levels, so the plant actually had it's own dairy farm. Workers got free milk! Less lead in the blood! Until they realized that the milk was drawing the lead into the bones, as it tried to replace the calcium there.

[Pommezul]

*Well, now I understand why my mother always told me that heavy metal wasn't a good thing.*

[doctorlolchicken]

Colonel Mustard also experienced the dangers of lead. Over the back of the head. In the library.

[Demonai_Warrior]

Simon: *List all the symptoms lead exposure leads to.*

Me: *Looks myself over and feels like I have all of those.*

[Fayanora]

One of the symptoms of lead poisoning is also a reduced ability to taste salt. Which is part of why the ancient Romans ate so much of the stuff - because they used lead in their pipes, at the very least as a sealant. They apparently ate so much salt in their diet that even the most salt-hungry American would be disgusted by the excess salt in Roman food.

[SwordOfApollo]

Lead was very useful for its malleability. It's a shame it had to be so toxic.

[andreapatane]

I'm glad that I didn't have lead poisoning, but a friend of mine that I had a special romantic feeling toward back when we were both 6th Grade students at my former middle school got it. The condition that he had was so bad that plenty of adults had to take this opportunity to observe the palm of his hand. It was unknown if he had to go to the school nurse or not that day. Safety first when you're around lead at all times.

[franzfanz]

It's like that educational film I saw starring Troy McClure. "Lead Paint: Delicious But Deadly."

[Reubenhubert]

When I took college biology classes the action of heavy metals on proteins was discussed.
Proteins are complex molecules that twist and fold themselves into complex shapes.
Heavy metals degrade those molecules by causing them to unfold and untwist so they are not useful to the body.
The proteins that make brain and nervous tissue are especially susceptible to damage caused by these metals.
The brain isn’t turned into mush, but the proteins that make the nervous tissue don’t work the way they should.

[ZeusTheIrritable]

So lead is like my friend Anthony at every job ever: An enthusiastic failure who manages to break things, experiment with chemicals, and not follow proper procedures, all the while managing to somehow stay around for years. Fantastic!

[MrJeffcoley]

I knew people in El Paso, TX who had lived in Smelterville, a small neighborhood for the workers next to the ASARCO smelter. Their homes were built on the slag pile and everything was thoroughly contaminated with lead and other heavy metals. It was shut down and the people relocated in the early 1960’s.

None of them seemed to be suffering any long-term effects from their exposure.

[EinkOLED]

I used to have a fear of lead, in fact it gave me OCD and had to protect myself from getting in contact with it.

[HereForTheComments]

*"Two or three..."*

Years? Wow...

*"Decades."*