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Lead Kills Over 400,000 People Per Year in the U.S.

posted by martyb on Wednesday March 21 2018, @11:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the get-the-lead-out dept.

PastTense writes:

The study, published in the Lancet Public Health journal and believed to be the first to research the effects of low levels of lead exposure on the general public, also concludes there is no safe level of the toxic metal: people with the lowest detectable amounts were still affected.

Researchers at four North American universities, led by Bruce Lanphear, of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, studied the fate of 14,289 people whose blood had been tested in an official US survey between 1988 and 1994. Four fifths of them had harboured levels of the toxic metal below what has, hitherto, been thought safe.

The study found that deaths, especially from cardiovascular disease, increased markedly with exposure, even at the lowest levels. It concluded that lead kills 412,000 people a year – accounting for 18% of all US mortality, not much less than the 483,000 who perish as a result of smoking.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/17/lead-petrol-more-deadly-than-we-thought-brexit-bring-it-back

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 22 2018, @12:22AM (1 child)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 22 2018, @12:22AM (#656399) Journal

    Researchers at four North American universities, led by Bruce Lanphear, of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, studied the fate of 14,289 people whose blood had been tested in an official US survey between 1988 and 1994. Four fifths of them had harboured levels of the toxic metal below what has, hitherto, been thought safe.

    The study found that deaths, especially from cardiovascular disease, increased markedly with exposure, even at the lowest levels. It concluded that lead kills 412,000 people a year – accounting for 18% of all US mortality, not much less than the 483,000 who perish as a result of smoking.

    Really, they're saying that a large portion, perhaps even most of the 600k deaths in the US each year due to cardiovascular disease, are due to lead poisoning.

    Worryingly, the “precautionary principle” that led to the phase-out, and is enshrined in EU law, is in danger from Brexit.

    Another reason why the EU is a bad place to be. The precautionary principle has no place in a rational society for it would fail its own criteria, if one were to treat it just like another risky choice.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @02:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @02:45AM (#656453)

    Another reason why the EU is a bad place to be.

    Happy to hear EU is safe from your presence, otherwise it should have spent something - as a precaution - to prevent you from getting your toxic presence there.