Public Health

Discuss the hazards of nonoccupational exposure to lead dust and fumes in the United States. People discovered the ease with which lead metal could be molded into useful objects thousands of years ago. Before long, ancient medical writers began describing myriad occupational health problems suffered by heavily exposed lead miners and smelters. In time, health problems from nonoccupational exposure to lead at lower doses were also discovered.

In your response, address the following:

Discuss the adverse health effects of lead that occur at high levels of exposure in the context of a poisoning case. Review briefly a famous nonoccupational lead poisoning (plumbism) case from the past and list the health problems due to lead that this individual suffered.
Contrast the symptoms from high lead exposure to the adverse health effects of lead that occur at lower levels of exposure.
Describe one way in which nonoccupational exposure to lead occurs in the United States today through drinking, eating or other ingestion, or through breathing. Give an example of a typical exposure scenario for the route of exposure you choose.
Review the key public health preventive strategies used in the United States to prevent illness from lead exposure for the route of exposure you choose. Include primary prevention (stopping the exposure from occurring) and secondary prevention (detecting lead-exposed persons, treating them when medically warranted, and preventing additional exposure in the future).