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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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Thursday March 22 2018, @02:22PM
Great. More people throwing out perfectly useful CRTs, and older electronics because of the "all those dangerous toxic chemicals" including lead. Never mind not a molecule leaves the boxes while they are in use.
Yes, lead could be stupidly long term dangerous when it was used in things like pipes, gasoline, or paint. And when your electronics genuinely pass the point of any kind of reuse or resale then make absolutely sure they do not go in to a landfill. You won't get lead based cooties sitting next to a 1980s TV. The danger is at the landfill.