Effects of lead on the body

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I hope your weekend is going very well in this last month of the year. I have been bringing you medical information on a consistent basis, and as I have commented on other occasions, I enjoy reading posts from other users in the community because there is always something new to learn.

I recently read the post Choosing the right insecticide to kill insects in the crop field, and it got me thinking about this. Because certainly before we select any chemical or any substance that we are going to use the logical thing to do is to think about our health, because we don't tend to use something that expressly tells us that it would cause us to die.

But when we talk about fertilizers and pesticides, which are being used for decades to "keep plants free of pests " and to "increase their productivity ", everything changes, just like when we talk about the paint that is used for the clothes we use daily, because in an indirect way they are affecting us and not only in a positive way, but they have direct negative effects on our health, which is something that I have been reading a lot lately and it seems that there is not much that can be done about it.

I invite you to keep reading because I know you are interested in what I want to tell you.



Pixabay - LEAD PITCHERS/ Author: ArmbrustAnna

I will start by mentioning a fact that particularly caught my attention a few weeks ago, and that is the use of paint with a high concentration of lead to paint the clothes we usually wear.

It is no secret to anyone that a large part of the clothing used worldwide (as well as so many other items) is created in China, and this represents 31.6% of world trade according to 2020 statistics. A University of Canada conducted a study on the clothes that are sold in large online stores such as SHEIN and AliExpress, where you can buy at very low cost clothing and accessories for the entire population regardless of age.

Detecting that they had levels up to 20 times higher than what is considered a safe level of lead in humans. The maximum allowable amount in Canada is 90mg/kg, and there were findings of up to 1702.5mg/kg. This is impressive.

Although I must particularly say that this substance is highly toxic and I do not believe that its presence at any level in the human body is good. Since it can produce many harmful effects, I will describe some of them below.



Pixabay/ Author: Bessi

  • Children are particularly affected by this metal. It directly affects their brain, which can cause coma, convulsions, and even death. The effects are often permanent, and they may even suffer mental retardation or cognitive deficits as a result of being in contact with lead.

  • It is evident that if a woman is pregnant and her blood lead levels are very high, it will pass through the placental barrier and reach the fetus, causing serious damage to its developing nervous system, which will be irreversible. It can also cause miscarriages.

  • Lead has a serious effect on the liver, kidneys, brain, also in adults. Practically once it enters the organism it is difficult to eliminate it, and it can remain in the bones, and recirculate at any time, even passing to the growing fetus.

  • Female and male reproductive organs may be affected and their fertility may be reduced. It also produces high blood pressure, among other diseases that are not without concern.

I think that only with this sample of what can produce this metal used in many pigments and inks that are used in accessories and clothing, it is clear that it is best to avoid contact with this, and also the importance of this study and the data it has provided us.



Pixabay/ Author: jessica45

As far as I can understand, in countries like UK, USA and Canada, the laws in this aspect are more rigorous. Therefore they banned the sale of some garments and items that are known to contain high levels of lead, at least they removed them from online sales in Canada, but, those same clothes are still sold in Latin America, without any limitation or compassion, and still knowing the reality of what causes its use, by exposure to lead in high quantity.

Similarly, we use many products that not only contain lead, but other substances that I would like to talk about in future publications, which are clearly proven to be highly toxic, but even so, they continue to be distributed in many forms in items of daily use. It seems that trade is better than taking care of the health of the population.

The big problem with this type of situation is that the consequences on health are permanent and are detrimental to society in general. This results in great social expenses and leaves consequences in the future social development of many people, who will not have, as a result of the harmful action of lead in their central nervous system, the capacity to contribute as much as they could neither to them nor to the country where they live.



Pixabay/ Author: jarmoluk

But beyond this, I see very difficult to completely avoid the effects of some harmful products such as lead, because its use is already widespread, and the consequences can be seen in many diseases, including some types of cancer that have been increasing. For example, testicular cancer has been increasing in the last decades, will this be a product of some known or unknown chemical?

This and more remains to be seen, to be analyzed, and time will tell the truth. But with some delay, when most probably those chemicals have already been replaced by others that will be the same or even more harmful than the known ones, but that we will not be able to avoid either.

Here I end with this publication that besides dealing with a medical topic I tried to focus with a social character as well, regarding the negative effects of some chemicals on social health. I hope you have enjoyed this publication and that it has provided relevant information for everyone.




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5 comments
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Wow i didnt know about the presence of this in cheap clothes
!1UP


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It is a terrible fact, and that this has been happening for a long time makes it worse. But at least it is already known, however, there are countries in which this data will not cause companies to continue poisoning.
Thank you

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