Newser has a story that ties heart disease to lead exposure at at frequency ratios 10 times than all previous studies.
Scientists kept tabs on more than 14,000 adults who took a national health survey between 1988 and 1994, then again in 2011. After looking at how many people died during this period—about 4,400 in total, 1,800 of those from cardiovascular disease—the study in the Lancet Public Health journal found about 256,000 deaths each year could be tied to lead exposure. The effects of lead on heart health had previously been thought to be much lower, especially at low levels of lead exposure, study lead author Bruce Lanphear said.
The study also evaluated several other causes of deaths that were correlated to lead exposure at low levels. The suggest over 400,000 deaths per year in the US may be associated with lead exposure.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Thursday March 15 2018, @10:51PM
No idea. I picked it up in a dark storage area I was helping clean out, thinking it was a lead block, and got quite a surprise from how much it weighed. McDonald (the chem prof) got it when they decommissioned a betatron particle accelerator here on campus.
I've been known to ask unsuspecting people to hand it to me and watch their consternation when they try to lift it. ;)