Lead poisoning

By 2006-09-01T00:00:00

A child playing

Source: istockphoto

Simon Cotton takes a look at those compounds that find themselves in the news or relate to our everyday lives

You may have heard the recent news story about a child swallowing a bracelet and dying from lead poisoning: 

Jarnell Brown, a four-year old American boy, died on 22 February 2006, some days after swallowing a bracelet that was a free gift with a pair of trainers. 

According to the Minnesota state epidemiologist, the bracelet contained lead and when stuck in his stomach the bracelet slowly dissolved in the stomach acid. So Brown died of lead poisoning. Brown reportedly had a blood lead content three times the 'emergency' levels. The 'acute emergency' level is 0.7 μg ml-1, compared with a 'normal' level of less than 0.1 μg ml-1.  

Just how toxic is lead? How is it used? And how does it poison you?

Simon Cotton discusses

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