Criteria Pollutant: Lead

Lead is a toxic heavy metal. Sources include waste oil and solid waste incineration, iron and steel production, lead smelting, battery and lead alkyl manufacturing, and motor vehicle emissions. Vehicles used to be the major source of lead emission. However, the introduction of the catalytic converter to a car's exhaust system has led to a great decrease in emissions from these sources. The catalytic converters, required in order to meet emissions standards, are ruined by leaded gasoline. Therefore, fewer people could use leaded gasoline and in the late 1990's its sale was made illegal.

Health and Other Effects
The body easily absorbs inhaled or ingested lead. Children absorb it even more readily than adults! Lead poisoning can lead to:

• Anemia
• Brain and nervous system damage
• Severe kidney injury or failure
• Injury to heart and gastrointestinal system
• Damage to reproductive system, including: ovary and testicular dysfunction, impaired fetal blood synthesis, premature birth, and other delivery complications.

Other Effects include:

• Damage to wildlife at high levels, such as lead shot ingestion by waterfowl. Hunters used to use lead shot to hunt for waterfowl. Spent lead pellets would settle on the bottom of water bodies. Waterfowl often graze water bottoms and ingest gravel to help digestion in their gizzards. The birds often ingested these lead pellets as well. The ingestion of one lead pellet is enough to kill birds. Now using lead shot is illegal because of its environmental impact. Click Here for more information on lead shot.

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