Lead
Poisoning
Lindsey Glennon, Dane
Ellenbogen and Alex
Matthews
What is lead poisoning?
 Lead
poisoning is a medical condition
caused by increased levels of the heavy
metal lead in the body. Lead interferes
with a variety of body processes and is
toxic to many organs and tissues including
the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and
reproductive and nervous systems.
Where do you get it from?





contaminated air
water
soil
food
consumer products like:
- vinyl lunchboxes
-vinyl miniblinds
- old paint chips
-toys
-bubble gum machines
- paint that you have at home
- decorative stained glass windows
- fishing sinkers
Lead Poisoning
-Lead is a very common thing for children to
get, especially babies because they tend to
chew on things.
-Approximately 250,000 U.S. children aged 1-5
years have blood lead levels greater than 10
micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, the
level at which CDC recommends public health
actions be initiated. Lead poisoning can affect
nearly every system in the body. Because lead
poisoning often occurs with no obvious
symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized.
Case Study #1

One of Dallas' largest public housing projects sat in a lowincome neighborhood directly across the street from a
secondary lead smelter. For many years the smelter converted
used automotive batteries into lead components for resale. By
all accounts, particulate emissions from the factory
smokestacks literally blanketed the surrounding community
with lead-bearing soot. Baron & Budd represented more than
200 families in a lawsuit that eventually closed the lead smelter
and paid sizable confidential settlements to court-supervised
trusts for 445 children affected by lead poisoning.

Although the damage done to these children is irreversible, the funds
that were received is helping these families and children get the right
medical care they need to help them. They closed the lead smelter
and required the company to fund a community soil clean up
prevents the community from future damage to neighborhood
children.
Case Study #2

A 27-year-old female nurse intravenously injected 5 mL of
cigarette soakage solution that contained approximately 5.7
mg nicotine, in a suicidal attempt. Clinical manifestations
consisted of nausea, palpitation, abdominal pain, repeated
vomiting, and diarrhea. She remained fully conscious during
this episode. About 7 hours later, she visited emergency
department on foot and received fluid infusion for dehydration.
She fully recovered at night of the day. This is the first
documented report of acute nicotine poisoning due to
intravenous injection of cigarette soakage in humans. Signs
and symptoms appeared immediately after the injection, but
this case seemed to be relatively mild in terms of clinical
manifestation. The elimination half-life of nicotine seems to be
short, that is, less than 1 hour. Therefore, if initial treatment is
appropriate and the patient can survive acute phase of
nicotine poisoning, prognosis is good.
Sources
 http://baronandbudd.com/legal_services
/other_toxic_substances/lead_smelter
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoni
ng
 http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/
 http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brai
n/lead_poisoning.html