The Fatal Attraction of Lead

[John Winter]

For millennia lead has held a deep attraction for painters, builders, chemists and winemakers - but historically it's also done untold harm, especially to children. And while it's been banned in petrol, your car still contains several kilograms of it. So have we finally learned how to use lead safely?

Detectorists also find lots of the stuff over here in the UK ... this is a fascinating article from the BBC NEWS Magazine:

BBC News - The fatal attraction of lead

 

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[BosnMate]

When I was a kid I carried the lead pellets my air gun fired in my mouth. I wonder if 65 years later that's why I'm so dumb when it comes to figuring out this computer.

 

[mavroskylos]

When I was a kid I carried the lead pellets my air gun fired in my mouth. I wonder if 65 years later that's why I'm so dumb when it comes to figuring out this computer.

Me too, I wonder if I would have grown up to be a genius if I hadn't done that.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

When I was a kid I carried the lead pellets my air gun fired in my mouth. I wonder if 65 years later that's why I'm so dumb when it comes to figuring out this computer.

..and how many times did you bite down on the lead sinker to crimp it on the fishing line....I did ..uh..EVERYTIME..lol

 

[bayou bandit]

When I was a kid I carried the lead pellets my air gun fired in my mouth. I wonder if 65 years later that's why I'm so dumb when it comes to figuring out this computer.

I did the same thing and I still bite down on lead sinkers when bream fishing, maybe I could qualify for disability so I can have more detecting time.

 

[Frankn]

Hay look at the good things lead has done. Meat on the table, the pleasure of knocking down a soda can at 100 yards, with every shot. Holding that bait down till the fish or crabs came to feast.
Hay, there is two sides to every story. Maybe biting that split shot made me say this, lol!
Frank

 

[Red James Cash]

Maybe biting that split shot made me say this, lol!

Nah frankn,it made you join Tnetwe're all crazy here.

 

[hvacker]

Years ago plumbers made pipe joint compound from white lead and linseed oil. People never knew the problem was in their pipes. The word plumber was derived from Latin word plumbo (sp) meaning lead as early roman pipes were made from it. That's all I know about plumbing except hot is on the left, payday's on Friday and don't bite your nails.

 

[coinman123]

I did the same thing and I still bite down on lead sinkers when bream fishing, maybe I could qualify for disability so I can have more detecting time.

Yay, an excuse for handicap parking!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

And the lead pencils kids used to chew on. It's a wonder we survived! Stubborn I guess.

 

[Frankn]

Years ago plumbers made pipe joint compound from white lead and linseed oil. People never knew the problem was in their pipes. The word plumber was derived from Latin word plumbo (sp) meaning lead as early roman pipes were made from it. That's all I know about plumbing except hot is on the left, payday's on Friday and don't bite your nails.

Hay, you left out the most important rule, sh it runs down hill. lol
*****************************************
Don't worry about the pencils, they contain graphite, not lead. This was a common misconception.
Frank

 

[John Winter]

Why Pencil "Lead" is Called "Lead"

 

[Frankn]

Why Pencil "Lead" is Called "Lead"

Well, I read the thread and I think I got the point! lol Frank

 

[Dave Rishar]

Years ago plumbers made pipe joint compound from white lead and linseed oil. People never knew the problem was in their pipes. The word plumber was derived from Latin word plumbo (sp) meaning lead as early roman pipes were made from it. That's all I know about plumbing except hot is on the left, payday's on Friday and don't bite your nails.

Close. The Latin term for it was plumbum. That's where the "Pb" for lead on the periodic table came from, in case anyone was curious about it.

As for the chewing on lead sinkers and such, elemental lead has a hard time crossing the blood-brain barrier, and lead poisoning is much more of an issue for children than for adults. I'm not about to go and eat lead, and I wash my hands after handling lead, but I reload, I cast my own bullets, I'm exposed to lead occupationally, yadda yadda yadda, and my lead levels are checked annually as part of my job. If it's not a problem for me, it's probably not a problem for most other people either. I don't have a source to cite, but I live with this stuff and I'm no longer concerned about it. YMMV.

Hell, they used to can food in lead-soldered tins. Sailors ate that crap for months or years on end. Lead poisoning was the least of their concerns.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The Romans used lead as a sweetener. Lead oxide mixed with vinegar makes lead acetate - a sweet tasting substance and not good at all for the body. That and honey were about the only sweeteners they had at the time.

I have consumed the occasional lead pellet in the grouse and rabbits I hunt and eat and it hasnt hurt me none. I'm pickle wrench in the dropsie flardpungle.

 

[lookindown]

..and how many times did you bite down on the lead sinker to crimp it on the fishing line....I did ..uh..EVERYTIME..lol

I still do...when I get older I will know better...Im only 50.

 

[lookindown]

Close. The Latin term for it was plumbum. That's where the "Pb" for lead on the periodic table came from, in case anyone was curious about it.

As for the chewing on lead sinkers and such, elemental lead has a hard time crossing the blood-brain barrier, and lead poisoning is much more of an issue for children than for adults. I'm not about to go and eat lead, and I wash my hands after handling lead, but I reload, I cast my own bullets, I'm exposed to lead occupationally, yadda yadda yadda, and my lead levels are checked annually as part of my job. If it's not a problem for me, it's probably not a problem for most other people either. I don't have a source to cite, but I live with this stuff and I'm no longer concerned about it. YMMV.

Hell, they used to can food in lead-soldered tins. Sailors ate that crap for months or years on end. Lead poisoning was the least of their concerns.

So, your avatar pic is not what happened to you from all that lead exposure?

 

[BosnMate]

Close. The Latin term for it was plumbum. That's where the "Pb" for lead on the periodic table came from, in case anyone was curious about it.

As for the chewing on lead sinkers and such, elemental lead has a hard time crossing the blood-brain barrier, and lead poisoning is much more of an issue for children than for adults. I'm not about to go and eat lead, and I wash my hands after handling lead, but I reload, I cast my own bullets, I'm exposed to lead occupationally, yadda yadda yadda, and my lead levels are checked annually as part of my job. If it's not a problem for me, it's probably not a problem for most other people either. I don't have a source to cite, but I live with this stuff and I'm no longer concerned about it. YMMV.

Hell, they used to can food in lead-soldered tins. Sailors ate that crap for months or years on end. Lead poisoning was the least of their concerns.

Shucks, I thought I had a reason for being so forgetful and computer illiterate. You have managed to blow all that away, and now I'm back to just being a dummy.

 

[lookindown]

Shucks, I thought I had a reason for being so forgetful and computer illiterate. You have managed to blow all that away, and now I'm back to just being a dummy.

Im with you...I need to blame it on something.