Climate Change & Lead Poisoning Management

The problems of climate change and lead poisoning or lead abatement have a number of things in common; primarily that solutions must be whole-of-government because no one department can adequately deal with either issue, but importantly, that action needs to be global and is urgent.

How has lead poisoning prevention policy helped slow the rate of climate change?

Ř      Firstly, the removal of lead from petrol enables two huge changes in environmental health terms: it is the most important and highest priority simple-to-execute way to reduce blood lead levels in any population, and it allows the use of catalytic converters. Catalytic converters have arguably reduced the amount of greenhouse gases coming from petrol engines more than any other technology. Because lead poisons catalytic converters, every country has had to introduce unleaded petrol before they could introduce vehicles with catalytic converters. As soon as the remaining 17 countries where leaded petrol is still sold for road use, phase out leaded petrol, the opportunity will exist for regulations which provide for every petrol driven vehicle on the planet to have a catalytic converter.

The following news release from James Rochow, (now President, Trust for Lead Poisoning Prevention) dated 2^nd November 1999, ably summarises this first vital point:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES PROPOSE INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Alliance Urges Governments to Fulfill Previous Commitments to Phase Out Leaded Gasoline as a Necessary First Step toward Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

BONN, GERMANY - The Alliance To End Childhood Lead Poisoning has released a policy statement that calls on Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to phase out leaded gasoline as a necessary first step toward reducing vehicular greenhouse gas emissions.  The policy statement was released at a workshop on Health and Climate Change co-sponsored by the Alliance, the American Lung Association, Friends of the Earth, and the European Environment Bureau.  The workshop was held in Bonn, Germany, to coincide with the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

The Health and Climate Change workshop overwhelmingly endorsed integrated solutions to climate change, including leaded gasoline phase-out.  Integrated solutions must consist of measures that quickly and easily improve energy efficiency; help control Greenhouse Gases, both directly and indirectly; and achieve other pollution prevention benefits.

"Leaded gasoline phase-out is a perfect example of an integrated solution," said Dr. Axel Friedrich, Director of the Environment and Transport Division of the German Federal Environment Agency.  "In addition to protecting millions of children and adults from lead's harmful effects, eliminating its use in gasoline is a first necessary step to controlling a host of other air pollutants, including greenhouse gases," Dr. Friedrich added.  This is because lead makes it impossible to take advantage of modern technologies - such as fuel injection systems, on-board computers, oxygen sensors, and catalytic converters - that improve energy efficiency and reduce toxic vehicle emissions.  Furthermore, according to Dr. Friedrich, "lead's corrosive effects on exhaust systems, spark plugs, and other engine parts means that switching to unleaded gasoline saves consumers money."

"It's time to insert health considerations into the debate on climate change," declared Fran DuMelle, Deputy Managing Director of the American Lung Association.  "Addressing climate change provides the opportunity for integrated solutions that will protect the environment, improve public health, and promote sustainable development." 

Leaded gasoline remains the most dispersive source of lead exposure and every day of its continued use adds to the reservoir of environmental lead that eventually must be controlled or abated.  Lead poisoning from gasoline and other sources continues to be one of the world's most pervasively debilitating diseases.  The World Health Organization has found that all urban children in developing countries under two years of age, and more than 80 percent of those between the ages of three and five, are suspected to have blood lead levels exceeding international health standards.  Lead exposures can adversely affect everyone, but special populations such as children, pregnant women, and men and women of reproductive age are particularly vulnerable to lead's harmful effects.  Even at very low levels, lead poisoning in children can cause developmental disabilities, hyperactivity, impaired growth, hearing loss, blood diseases, behavior problems, reduced attention span, and decreased productivity.  Effects on adults include high blood pressure, kidney disease, and impaired fertility.

"The international community has reached a consensus that phasing out leaded gasoline is an environmental and sustainable development priority," according to Maria Rapuano, Project Director with the Alliance.  "Parties must fulfill previous commitments made at the Commission on Sustainable Development, Habitat, the Summit of the Americas, and many other international and regional for a to phase out leaded gasoline promptly."

Ř      Secondly, the fallout from leaded petrol vehicle emissions doesn’t disappear once lead is removed from petrol. This airborne lead dust eventually settles in dusts in buildings (and especially in building cavities – ceiling cavities, wall cavities, under-floor cavities), and in soils, water bodies and sediments. Hiring an Australian Dust Removalists Association member nicely combines a toxics issue (detox your home by removing lead-containing ceiling dust from the roof void) with action to reduce global warming (by installing roof insulation).

What makes climate change and lead poisoning together, worse than either problem on its own?

Some fascinating observations (see below) that have been made in many places for many years are that the hotter it is, the higher the blood lead level, and that if someone who already has lead poisoning gets overheated, they suffer worse health effects as a result eg becoming more agitated or aggressive. Drought too brings dry dusty environments and thirst or restrictions on water use for drinking and especially cleaning away lead pollution – all factors which increase exposure and absorption of lead.

One can only wonder at the possible consequences should average temperatures continue to rise and drought affect more of the globe.

According to Sir Nicholas Stern, average global temperature has already risen 0.7 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial times. Predictions vary that temperatures will rise another 1.5 – 2 degrees even if action is taken today on reducing greenhouse gases, or 5 – 6 degrees by the end of this century for a “business as usual” scenario. [See http://uktradeinvest.britaus.net/news/newsdefault.asp?id=714 and http://bhc.britaus.net/uploadedFiles/News/Speeches/2007/18 ]

Why is lead poisoning called the “Summer Disease”?

The following was originally published in LEAD Action News vol 4 no 1, Summer 1996:

Ref: (1979) V Garnys, R Freeman and L Smythe "Lead Burden of Sydney Schoolchildren", Uni of NSW, p160.

Several publications [AM Baetjer (1959) Industrial Medicine and Surgery, 28, 137, and JC Aub et al (1925) Mediano, 4, 1] have noted the increased incidence of childhood lead poisoning during the summer months. In a recent publication entitled "The summer disease: An integrative model of the seasonality aspects of childhood lead poisoning", JM Hunter (1977) [in "Social Science and Medicine" 11, 691-703] reviewed this phenomenon by considering air pollution, maternal-foetal exchange of lead, biological models and the effects of sunlight in the USA.

In Australia, Freeman [various references 1969-1973] noted the increased number of hospital admissions in summer for childhood lead poisoning. [Ref: http://www.lead.org.au/lanv4n1/lanv4n1-5.html ]

JM Hunter also wrote “The summer disease. Some field evidence on seasonality in childhood lead poisoning” published in "Social Science and Medicine" in 1978 Jun;12(2D):85-94.

Are lead poisoning rates worsening in drought-affected communities where they were previously showing constant improvement?

On March 15^th 2007, the first rise in blood lead levels since 1992 was reported for young children in Broken Hill – a town in outback Australia and home of the largest lead mining operations in the world. Drought has affected most of central Australia, including Broken Hill where now 28% of young children have a blood lead level exceeding the WHO guideline. Verity Edwards wrote in The Australian newspaper:

“The World Health Organisation's guideline for safe blood lead levels is 10 micrograms of lead per decilitre. While the median in Broken Hill has risen from 5.5 ug/dl to 5.9, the Aboriginal mean has risen from 8.7 to 9.7. And lead experts, such as Adelaide University researcher Peter Baghurst, have argued that the WHO levels should be lowered to 2 ug/dl.”

[Ref: “Water cost link to high level in kids” http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21384704-23289,00.html ]

It is certainly worth investigating if average blood lead levels are rising in other communities where average temperatures are rising. Communities hosting lead product manufacturing, lead acid battery recycling, lead mining or smelting operations are the most likely to have biannual blood lead survey data over several decades, which could then be compared to temperatures over the same period.

How does heat affect the lead poisoned individual?

The following was originally published under the title “Lead Workers Case Studies” in LEAD Action News vol 4 no 1, Summer 1996:

Case G is a firearms instructor for the Security industry. When he had his blood lead tested and found he had a blood lead level of 1.68 µmol/L (35 µg/dL) his doctor "was helpful, but I don’t think she knows that much about it herself". The senior police sergeant in charge of the Firearms Registry in his area had suggested that he be tested when the instructor started getting "very short-tempered". The Firearms Registry supervises all security firearms instructors in Victoria. The senior sergeant had been lead-poisoned himself (4.1 µmol/L - over 80 µg/dL) and needed chelation, and so was aware of the symptoms.

The instructor had previously worked only on outdoor ranges. The day after running his first 3 hour course at an indoor range, he felt "generally off-colour. The range isn’t well-ventilated". After 12 of these sessions, "I have violent mood swings -my wife says it’s like bad PMT. I realise it at the time but I can’t stop myself. Any increase of pressure on me is hard to handle. When I go out into the sun, if I get a lot of UV, I know I’m going to get a lead dump. I get hot flushes - it feels like I’m spontaneously combusting from inside - my entire body heats up and breaks out into a sweat. [See article following "Lead Poisoning: the Summer Disease".] I have short term memory loss and I get a hot metallic taste in my mouth after work." He also suffers joint pain for which he is being treated with anti-inflammatories. [Ref: http://www.lead.org.au/lanv4n1/lanv4n1-4.html ]

And it’s not just humans who suffer worse lead poisoning effects when they get hot. One GLASS caller told us about her dog fitting when he was overheated:

“I had an old English sheep dog years ago in an old place in Sydney & my husband was stripping furniture and the dog chewed a door. I was playing with the dog and he went into fits. If he got slightly hot or excited he'd have the fits and I never knew when they'd happen and it really upset me at the time and the vet took ages to figure out that it was lead poisoning.” [Ref: GLASS Call ID 200703-620, 28^th March 2007]