M9.4: Heavy Metals

Article 1: Lead Poisoning by Prof. Herbert Needleman

This article surveys the past three decades of lead research and reviews the evolving knowledge of the distribution, toxicology, and remediation of lead toxicity (Needleman, 2004). This was a really well written article, it provides history and insight into lead poisoning. It compares and contrast how lead toxicity impact adults and children-this comparison is crucial to understand how the dosage and mechanism of lead toxicity. I really appreciated that the article did discuss the steps it took to discover lead toxicity and the steps that are needed for the diagnosis and management of the disease. Lastly, the article emphasizes primary prevention as a vital element for the reduction of lead poisoning


Article 2: An environmental health response to a severe outbreak of childhood lead poisoning in Nigeria Casey Bartrem

 This article shares a success story of how lead toxicity was reduced in villages in Nigeria. In 2010, MSF found that >400 deaths in children <5 years of age in Nigerian villages. So in an effort to change this international agencies, including the Joint United Nations Environment Program/Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Environment Unit (JEU), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) collaborated with Nigerian health authorities and traditional and religious leadership in a comprehensive emergency health and environmental response worked towards a remediation. The remediation steps was a 4 year intervention, 2,400 children received chelation treatment and blood lead levels declined from >170 μg/dL to <20 μg/dL. These results are remarkable and if posisble should be replicated in areas with similar data. 


References:

Needleman, H. (2004). Lead poisoning. Annual Review of Medicine, 209. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.120168711&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3818721



Comments

  1. snaymallickOctober 26, 2018 at 12:16 AM

    It was sad to see so much lead poisoning in children. This was the first time I heard about this. I would hope that we use preventative methods against lead. It was a scary thought that children around the world are constantly being affective. I am hopeful that we find solutions to prevent an issue like this to happen again.

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  2. UnknownNovember 10, 2018 at 7:45 PM

    In regards to article #2, I agree that if possible, similar methods should be replicated in other areas experiencing similar lead poisoning issues. However, I don't want to overlook the fact that it was an effort accomplished by a very diverse and interdisciplinary team. In my opinion, I'd love to learn more about the communication techniques that helped facilitate communication between the Joint United Nations Environment Program/Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Environment Unit (JEU), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Nigerian health authorities, and traditional and religious leadership. I believe that this information would provide a valuable insight and can help inform best practices when trying to address similar public health issues in other countries.

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