Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Acute or chronic poisoning by lead or any of its salts, with the acute form causing severe gastroenteritis and encephalopathy and the chronic form causing anemia and damage to the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
chronic intoxication that is produced by theabsorption oflead into thebody and is characterized by severecolicky pains, a dark line along thegums , and localmuscular paralysis .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun toxic condition produced by the absorption of excessive lead into the system
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sionnach commented on the word lead poisoning
e.g. in battery workers:
... from her study of the industry in 1914 Hamilton estimated that almost 18 per cent of American battery workers had lead poisoning. This compared with a rate of three per cent in the British battery industry and one per cent in Germany's largest battery plant.
The most dangerous jobs were mixing and pasting the lead oxides, which were often applied to the lead plates by hand. Hamilton described the process where mixing was carried out at one end of the pasting room:
There is no exhaust over scales or mixer and the litharge or red lead is simply scooped up from the kegs and dropped into the scales, which are then emptied into the mixer. At the time this place was visited a workman was engaged in mixing oxides, and clouds of yellow dust were perceptible.
Mixers and pasters were usually paid piece rates, ensuring a rapid work pace. That, along with shifts of nine or ten hours, guaranteed prolonged exposure to lead dust and fumes.
Taken from this article .
July 9, 2008
bilby commented on the word lead poisoning
That's terrible. Did the battery workers bring charges?
July 9, 2008
plethora commented on the word lead poisoning
Ha!
July 9, 2008