Lead
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Description
Lead is a soft malleable metal. It is used for the manufacture of lead acid batteries (car batteries), bullets and shot, in alloys etc. Although the metal itself is not toxic it oxidises readily and all its compounds are cumulative toxic substances which affect the central nervous system and retard development in children. For this reason, it has been banned in many countries for a number of applications such as fuel additives, paint and in some types of solder.
Detailed description
Undoubtedly, most of the lead mined today is used in the manufacture of lead acid batteries. The lead ore is usually combined with other metals, typically silver and zinc all of which are present in the form of sulfides. The smelting is often a very polluting process emitting large quantities of sulfur dioxide.
Various estimations have been made regarding the proportion of batteries that are recycled. In some places this may be lower than 50%. This means that the other 50% are dumped in landfills -- or worse! This is almost criminal in view of the pollution that is produced during the smelting of virgin metal. In addition, even where the batteries are recycled, there is no guarantee that all the lead compounds are recovered.
Lead has been correctly banned in paints and fuel additives. It has been shown that both these applications are harmful by the measurement of lead levels in blood. There has also recently been a number of cases of lead having been found in imported toys, which have been rejected and sent back to their country of origin. Lead-containing solder has also been banned in most electronic equipment in the European Union. It has been shown that the RoHS directive has been badly researched as there is no proof that the lead in solder has ever entered into the human body or into the environment.
