Lead is a heavy metal that is common in our everyday environment. Historically it has been used in paints, pipes (including connectors/fittings), and gasoline among other places. Today, most industrial uses are limited to lead-acid batteries, a growing market. Lead is a known toxin for humans. Health effects range from mild health irritations and decreased fertility at low amounts, lower IQ and emotional/behavioral issues in milder amounts, and seizures, coma, and even death at higher amounts. ### Top exposure pathways (aka: sources of lead) include: - Paint - Soil - Dust (created by soil, paint, or emissions) - Water / Plumbing Lead may also be in toys, cosmetics, food containers, and other places, but the above are the top 4 pathways. Paint is generally recognized as the predominant source of lead. People talk quite a bit about lead in water, in part because of the crisis in Flint Michigan. Soil is a pathway that gets less attention; however, there is growing evidence that soil -- and in particular the dust that gets kicked up -- is a significant source of lead. There are no safe levels of lead for humans; any amount is a bad amount. Lead is also bioaccumulate which means that it doesn't leave your body. Small amounts add up in your body over time. -------------------- ###Top Resources on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic - [How to Test For Lead in your Environment](https://publiclab.org/notes/read_holman/04-11-2019/how-to-test-for-lead-in-your-environment) - [Evaluating Low-cost Lead Screening Products](https://publiclab.org/notes/read_holman/04-16-2019/evaluating-low-cost-lead-screening-products) - [Chemical/Analytical Methods Used When Testing for Lead](https://publiclab.org/notes/read_holman/12-12-2018/list-of-methods-for-lead-detection-monitoring) - [How much lead is legally allowed and what government agency regulates that? (link goes to CDC/ATSDR website. Scroll to Summary Table.)](https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=34&po=8) -------------------- ### Research Notes on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic [notes:lead!question:lead] ### Questions posted on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic [questions:lead] ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArtistMonkey83 | " I found this pdf when considering water quality and tests http://aesl.ces.uga.edu/publications/watercirc/TestingWaterQuality.pdf?2 " | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| Ag8n | "I know it's expensive, but the quickest heavy metal monitor is to dry the soil and do X-Ray flourescence (XRF). After that, there are many set che..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| falbriard | " Dear DanielleS. I'm a software developer, retired but still active with code writing, developing analytics for natural resource management. We ju..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| liz | "Mapping lead risk vs measured lead levels is a choice that requires describing a methodology and calculating scores beyond plotting data on a map. ..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Just to expand on this, LEL is designed to be a common, standard back-end to present a lot of these layers on the same interactive map with minimum..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Combining these into one map should be pretty straightforward with Leaflet Environmental Layers -- a project we've developed with @sagarpreet! htt..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| a1ahna | " Hey Read! I'd be happy to help y'all get your data mapped - I'm a little too swamped to do much as far as data management, but I think I can be o..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| read_holman | " Related convo: https://publiclab.org/questions/sagarpreet/07-01-2018/what-more-data-layers-can-we-show-on-map# " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| Ag8n | " There are several manufacturers of handheld XRF analyzers. And yes, they are usually cost limited. The cost can be reduced somewhat by renting, i..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| iragersh | " Not really relevant. I was on the PublicLab Open Hour call and I asked a question but can't remember the answer. I asked about finding lead on t..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "And the same page above lists Alternate EPA 3050B and 6010 methods for lead at $55. " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Also the UMASS Amerst Soil Lab offers a $20 test for lead, although I don't know much more about it. It is a "mail-in" test though so perhaps outsi..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Wow, interesting; these "SprayView" kits have a great illustration of colorimetric detection: https://www.chemsee.com/residential/detection-kits-f..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | " Hi @read_holman -- I did find this XRF tool for soil testing: https://www.bruker.com/products/x-ray-diffraction-and-elemental-analysis/handheld-xr..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| jjcreedon | " @roberts_ecofarm thanks for the question... you can check out this application note with info to answer your question. https://publiclab.org/notes..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| read_holman | "Thanks for posting this @liz. A good intro to the topic and great conversation starter. I've been noodling on what a specific example might be (wi..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| roberts_ecofarm | " What kinds of things are you sampling for and how are you testing? " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| liz | "Check out this opportunity: https://publiclab.org/notes/stevie/12-07-2018/community-science-soil-testing-fellowship " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| roberts_ecofarm | " Interesting idea. certainly a good way to get buy in and to discover issues/ideas that may be buried. " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| stevie | " Interesting! made me think of @bsugar and Thomas Levine (whose profile I can't find!) " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| SadiePrego | " @warren @Bronwen thanks so much you guys! " | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| Bronwen | "@warren That's on me! I suggested breaking this up into a few posts just because the focus of activities are all so different and I wanted to make ..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Oh, oops, i see this isn't a duplicate at all, but split into three themes! My apologies, i am just always on the lookout to be sure our moderation..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Ah, looks like maybe it was posted twice because the first was held in moderation (sorry, our anti-spam systems are unfortunate, but you wouldn't b..." | Read more » | over 5 years ago |