DEFENDING LEAD PAINT POISONING CASES : "BLURRED PLUMBISM" [Chapter 1]--- BALTIMORE ATTORNEY

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                  CHAPTER ONE : SHORT HISTORY OF LEAD USE


                                       LEAD =  ( Symbol : Pb )
                                       Atomic Number =  82
                                      Melting Point =  327.5 Degrees Centigrade
                                      Boiling Point =  1740.0 Degrees Centigrade
                                      Discovered By =  Unknown


To the best of our knowledge, significant production of lead (Pb) began around 3000 BC.
Large lead mines in Spain and Greece are known to have contributed significantly to the worldwide distribution of lead.


The Roman Empire is credited with being the first society to widely use lead. This view is supported by the fact that the word "plumbism" is derived from the Latin word "plumbum", for lead, which also gave rise to the chemical symbol for lead : Pb.


Lead (Pb) is slightly sweet to taste, making it a good additive for unremarkable Roman wine which was then shipped all over Europe; spreading "plumbism" ( lead poisoning) for many Roman and other European wine drinkers. It is also one reason why infant and young children are attracted to the taste of lead. In fact, some historians even allege that lead poisoning ("plumbism") helped hasten the fall of the Roman Empire; since, even in those early times there were many reports that lead in the Roman  wind and other drinks, water, baths, plumbing, food, cooking and drinking utensils, etc., caused such illnesses as severe colic, anemia, gout, etc. Lead, either inhaled or ingested in sufficient amounts, can be very harmful to the human body.


Lead (Pb) is fundamentally a bluish, hard but malleable, metallic element that is non-dissolvable, non-burning, non-decaying, non-biodegrable and non-dissipating. In other words, it lasts... and lasts... and lasts. It is estimated that at least 10 million metric tons of lead residue are in earth's environment.


Use of lead (Pb) in paint in the United States began in Colonial times and ultimately peaked in 1922.
In 1951, Baltimore banned the use of lead pigment in interior paint in Baltimore housing. This was the first such restriction in America. In 1971, the Federal Lead Poisoning Prevention Act was passed; and in 1978 the Federal government banned consumer and residential uses of lead paint.


If you live in a major East Coast metropolitan area and your residential unit was built prior to 1978, there is a good chance it has at least some lead paint in it. Lead (Pb) from interrupted (i.e., chipped, scratched, cracked, lead dust, etc.) lead-based paint is a major source of lead poisoning in many urban areas. However, there are several other sources of lead in the urban environment as well, such as : batteries, industrial sites, factories, soil, general dust, commercial buildings (even some after 1978), drinking water, pipes, plumbing, some foods and drinks, some jobs, hobbies, toys, jewelry, cosmetics, playgrounds, plants, trees,  folk remedies, other products, the air we breathe, etc.
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