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My grandmother delivered her first child several months early after inhaling the fumes of a fresh coat of leaded paint. My uncle died not long after being born.

My grandmother delivered her first child several months early after inhaling the fumes of a fresh coat of leaded paint. My uncle died not long after being born. He was resuscitated, but not before the lack of oxygen to the brain caused permanent damage, including blindness and developmental disorders. He has lived in some very, very bad places that were supposed to be helpful to people like him but turned out to be so nightmareish that I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemies. He is in a better home now. He’s over 60. I don’t think he has ever recognized my mother, but he seems to enjoy the ice cream she brings him when she visits. Is the new CDC limit too low? Does it matter? All I can offer is an anecdotal story of terrible sadness for many people. For that reason, I always take lead exposure seriously. There is no safe limit.

eximius 9y ago
Was lead exposure ruled the cause of the early delivery? I'm all for eliminating environmental pollutants, but let's encourage it using things less trivial to dismiss. Edit: rereading this, it sounds harsh. I can't, offhand, think of a good way to soften it, so I'll say this: I appreciate you sharing your story and empathize with the difficulty of the lives of the people involved. I want more people to understand and internalize the need to reduce needless pollutants (safe or not, because the trend seems to usually be we think it's safe and then we find out it's not). People who don't already care or want to dismiss this issue will ignore anecdotes. If a doctor said that lead was the cause, it ceases to be what I'd consider an anecdote and it's harder to ignore.
- amvalo 9y ago
  You are right, though. Lead paint doesn't emit lead vapors (except if you remove it with those heat gun things)
steve19 9y ago
That's a terrible story. I am so sorry for what your uncle has had to suffer. I think there is a safe limit. When I did a number of shooting sports I got myself tested. I was absolutely fine, despite almost certainly inhaling small amounts of leads, and definitely handling lead. I have only met one person in the shooting sports/shooting industry who was diagnosed with lead poisoning, a young woman who worked at a gun store/range. Many people who I shot with would have had far greater exposure than me and also got themselves tested. The counter argument is that lead poisoning has such a wide range of symptoms it can be misdiagnoses.
- rabboRubble 9y ago
  >...I think there is a safe limit. For adults. For children and their brain development, the safe level is zero.
- mobilefriendly 9y ago
  There is no safe limit. Smaller exposures may not be testable and the damage isn't obvious, but there's still damage, and it is cumulative.

eximius 9y ago

Was lead exposure ruled the cause of the early delivery? I'm all for eliminating environmental pollutants, but let's encourage it using things less trivial to dismiss. Edit: rereading this, it sounds harsh. I can't, offhand, think of a good way to soften it, so I'll say this: I appreciate you sharing your story and empathize with the difficulty of the lives of the people involved. I want more people to understand and internalize the need to reduce needless pollutants (safe or not, because the trend seems to usually be we think it's safe and then we find out it's not). People who don't already care or want to dismiss this issue will ignore anecdotes. If a doctor said that lead was the cause, it ceases to be what I'd consider an anecdote and it's harder to ignore.

amvalo 9y ago
You are right, though. Lead paint doesn't emit lead vapors (except if you remove it with those heat gun things)

steve19 9y ago

That's a terrible story. I am so sorry for what your uncle has had to suffer. I think there is a safe limit. When I did a number of shooting sports I got myself tested. I was absolutely fine, despite almost certainly inhaling small amounts of leads, and definitely handling lead. I have only met one person in the shooting sports/shooting industry who was diagnosed with lead poisoning, a young woman who worked at a gun store/range. Many people who I shot with would have had far greater exposure than me and also got themselves tested. The counter argument is that lead poisoning has such a wide range of symptoms it can be misdiagnoses.

rabboRubble 9y ago
>...I think there is a safe limit. For adults. For children and their brain development, the safe level is zero.
mobilefriendly 9y ago
There is no safe limit. Smaller exposures may not be testable and the damage isn't obvious, but there's still damage, and it is cumulative.