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Biochemistry and measurement of Environmental lead intoxication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2009

Josef Eisinger
Josef Eisinger
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
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Extract

Lead is probably the oldest and most widely distributed environmental intoxicant, but unlike many of the synthetic agents which cause the greatest concern in industrial societies today, it occurs naturally at low levels in the environment and was present during evolutionary times. Galena (PbS), the most important lead-bearing mineral, is abundant and it is readily smelted. The metal is easily shaped and does not corrode and its compounds have found innumerable uses, particularly as pigments. This explains, in brief, why lead has had great economic importance since ancient times and why lead disease has plagued civilized societies for thousands of years and continues to be a serious concern to health authorities today. (Grandjean, 1975; Eisinger, 1977).

Type
Research Article
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1978 , pp. 439 - 466
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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References

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