You Could Still Die like Beethoven

Lead poisoning isn't something that we really worry about anymore in our society. Over the past century, the United States has made an extraordinary effort to rid our lives of the dangers of lead. People who live in older homes get lead paint removed, and while this is a painstaking and quite expensive process, we do it for our health.

As an American, lead poisoning isn't something that crosses my mind often. When I was younger, I was fascinated with Ludwig van Beethoven, who died of lead poisoning, which was only discovered a few decades ago when they tested a flock of his hair.

Anyway, I found this article about lead poisoning, and I was perplexed because it just isn't really a problem here. However globally, lead is a pretty big threat, even in 2013. Dr. Mary Jean Brown of the CDC talks about these "informal factories" where people are exposed to large amounts of lead from recycling batteries everyday and since there are no barriers, there is no way to prevent large amounts of lead from entering their homes.

Howard Mielke of Tulane University also discusses how excessive amounts of lead can affect a child's intelligence levels. This is especially bad considering that this is occurring in developing parts of the world, and if we want to advance as a world, we need to have well-educated people who are functioning at their peak.

Here are some symptoms of lead poisoning

Lead poisoning is an issue that should not even be an issue anymore in our world. We need to make an effort to push this behind all of us, not just in the leading countries. 

Article cred: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2013/0217_lead_poison.shtml

Photo cred: http://www.poweredbyosteons.org/2012/01/lead-poisoning-in-rome-skeletal.html