M 9.4: Heavy Metals

The first article was a very interesting read, and it does reiterated all the things that I have learned in biochemistry on how lead can affect our central nervous system, which can cause learning disorders, cognitive functions and social behaviors. I think all old homes and buildings should get tested for lead to prevent people from inhaling it into their system. I did not know that lead was used in wine making, and I loved how they article mentioned it may have lead to the fall of the Roman empire, which I think it can be explained that the Roman aristocrats all had lead poisoning. It was really sad reading about the amount of death in young children in Nigeria. it goes to show that education and knowledge will make a difference in preventing tragic events from happening. I really liked that immediate action was taken to resolve the problem, which is very important to prevent any further deaths.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 25, 2018 at 1:24 PM

    I thought these two articles were so interesting as well. I had no idea lead was used in wine production and could have been a factor in the fall of the Roman Empire. What?! It makes sense, it is just crazy how events are all connected like that. I think you are right, old homes need to be tested to prevent lead inhalation. As the one article said, the increase in IQ's of children outweigh the costs of removing lead from our infrastructures.

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  2. UnknownMarch 26, 2018 at 4:03 PM

    Hi Feng,

    You are so right! I think that all the romans probably got lead poisoning. It makes sense now why the overall lifespan has increase in the past 10 years. Because we have eliminated a lot of products that use lead. My cousin had lead poisoning at a young age from a No2 pencil that got stuck in his hands. However, at the time, no one really knew or were very aware of lead poisoning.

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