{"id":276673,"date":"2024-01-06T18:54:24","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T13:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=276673"},"modified":"2024-01-06T18:54:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T13:24:24","slug":"on-lead-poisoning-lead-exposure-caused-millions-to-lose-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/on-lead-poisoning-lead-exposure-caused-millions-to-lose-health\/","title":{"rendered":"On Lead Poisoning – \u2018Lead exposure caused millions to lose health\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:<\/strong> This post on _ has been created based on the article \u201cLead exposure caused millions to lose health\u201d<\/strong> published in \u201cTimes of India\u201d<\/strong> on 6th <\/sup>January 2024.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic: <\/strong>GS Paper 2 Social Justice – Issues relating to Health.<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> The article discusses the impact of toxic chemicals, particularly Lead, on children.<\/p>\n

Why are children particularly vulnerable to such chemicals?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Children are much more sensitive to hazardous exposures than adults. This is because:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They are growing and developing:<\/strong> These development processes are very complex and operate in a strict time sequence. A toxic chemical like lead can disrupt those delicate processes.<\/li>\n
  2. Exposure of mother also supplements: <\/strong>Any chemical that gets into the body of an expectant mother also enters her baby and damages its tissues.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What is the impact of toxic chemical exposure on children?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    A range of diseases may result due to toxic chemical exposure. These include:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. If the child\u2019s brain is impacted, there could be a loss of IQ <\/strong>and an increased risk of autism<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. If a lung is damaged, there is a greater risk of asthma.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. If a chemical disrupts the hormones or endocrine glands, it may lead to birth defects of reproductive organs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    4. Low exposure may also lead to shortening of attention spans <\/strong>and disruptions in behavior <\/strong>of children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What are the sources of lead that have impacted people\u2019s health?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      In the 20th century, it began to be put into consumer products from paint to toys.<\/strong> This has now been abandoned.<\/p>\n

      In the mid-20th century, lead started being added to petrol<\/strong> in large quantities as a chemical called tetraethyl lead<\/strong>, intended to help automobile engines work better. This has now been phased out.<\/p>\n

      Other sources include batteries and battery recycling plants.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Note: Lead <\/strong>is a chemical element (atomic number 82). It is a heavy metal. It has been recognized as a toxic chemical.<\/p>\n

      What are other common toxic chemicals?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. Pesticides<\/strong> such as Organophosphates<\/strong> cause brain damage in children exposed in the womb.<\/li>\n
      2. Weed-killers or herbicides<\/strong> such as Glyphosate<\/strong> is known to cause cancer.<\/li>\n
      3. Asbestos<\/strong> is also very toxic. It is used in building materials, roofing tiles, concrete asbestos pipes, etc. It is cheap, durable and resists heat and fire \u2014 but it\u2019s also a powerful cause of cancer of the lungs, throat and ovaries.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Toxic chemicals such as Lead are polluting the environment we live in, especially harming children. List the harmful effects. Why are children particularly vulnerable to such chemicals?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Source: This post on _ has been created based on the article \u201cLead exposure caused millions to lose health\u201d published in \u201cTimes of India\u201d on 6th January 2024. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Social Justice – Issues relating to Health. News: The article discusses the impact of toxic chemicals, particularly Lead, on children. Why… Continue reading On Lead Poisoning – \u2018Lead exposure caused millions to lose health\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9,163],"tags":[212,232,10496],"class_list":["post-276673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","category-social-justice","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-social-justice","tag-times-of-india","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":10,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704564553},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}