Lead poisoning facts for kids

A lead warning on a fuel pump. Tetraethyllead, which used to be added to automotive gasoline (and still is added to some aviation gasolines), contributed to soil contamination.

Lead poisoning is a condition where there is too much lead in the body. Lead interferes with many processes, and is toxic to many organs and tissues. Treatment of the condition is usually focused on removing the source of lead.

Images for kids

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  Symptoms of lead poisoning

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  The brains of adults who were exposed to lead as children show decreased volume, especially in the prefrontal cortex, on MRI. Areas of volume loss are shown in color over a template of a normal brain.

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  Battery recycling workers are at risk for lead exposure. This worker ladles molten lead into billets in a lead-acid battery recovery facility.

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  Lead wheel weight eroding on road

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  Tetraethyllead, still used as an additive in some fuels, can be absorbed through the skin.

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  Lead exposure damages cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory. Hippocampi of lead-exposed rats (bottom) show structural damage such as irregular nuclei (IN) and denaturation of myelin (DMS) compared to controls (top).

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  Testing kits are commercially available for detecting lead. These swabs, when wiped on a surface, turn red in the presence of lead.

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  Dioscorides noted lead's effect on the mind in the first century AD.

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  Roman lead water pipes with taps

See also

In Spanish: Saturnismo para niños