Mining lead poisoning from

Worldwide pollutant of the at- mosphere. concentrated in urban areas from the combustion of tetraethyl lead in gasoline local pollutant "j from mines some poisoning from lead-based paint pigments. 

Chapter 2 provided a brief historical summary of lead as a mined and processed metallurgical and utilitarian commodity from ancient periods to the present. The chapter also identified the various ways by which production and uses of lead heralded its entry into the human environment as a contaminant and potential toxicant. That chapter, however, offered only passing comments about the available record for lead poisoning as a human health issue. 

In the case of Dr. Porritt, no one else in his home exhibited any symptoms although they had similar levels of lead exposure. The medical literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was full of examples similar to Dr. Porritt. Researchers would describe a particular population where all members of that population were exposed to identical lead levels—these populations usually involved workers in a lead refinery or mine, or animals in a laboratory—yet only a fraction of the population would manifest outward symptoms of lead poisoning. More recent research confirms these crude empirical observations and demonstrates that the ability to tolerate and evacuate lead from the system varies from person to person, and depends upon factors such as genetics, nutritional status, age, stature, personal habits, and overall health. ... 

In the past, the health and safety concerns with lead poisoning have focused on lead-based paint and lead in gasoline. However, the increasing quantity of scrap electronic products disposed into landfills has raised the question of the environmental impact of this source of lead. Studies in 1991 by Allenby, et al. [2] examined the potential for replacing lead-based solder and concluded that there were no viable alternatives at that time. They also suggested that the total environmental impact of lead and its alternatives, from mining, through manufacture, use, and end-of-life should be considered. 

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