Lead Toxicity and Modern Living

Did you know that skeletons of modern-day humans contain up to 1000x more lead than pre-industrial humans? Lead exposure has serious health risks, so why isn’t anyone teaching us how to remove it from our bodies? How many of our health problems today are due to lead toxicity?

What is Lead?

Lead is a toxic metal that has been mined and used for thousands of years. It is widely distributed in the environment due to its current and past industrial uses. No level of lead exposure is known to be safe, according to the World Health Organization.

Lead exposure is associated with violence, lowered IQ, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, and many other neurological problems. It has a particularly detrimental effect on the brain and nervous system. Dr. Lawrence Wilson calls lead the violence or horror metal because of its association with violent behavior.

Lead is associated with over one-hundred symptoms. Due to lead’s prevalence today, it is likely that we are all suffering from some level of dysfunction caused by lead accumulation.

Sources of Lead

♦ Lead was added to gasoline for over 50 years to improve engine performance. This practice spewed millions of tons of lead onto roadways and exposed our parents and grandparents to lead-contaminated vehicle exhaust on a daily basis.

Lead was phased out of gasoline in the mid-1970s, which is where the term “unleaded gasoline” comes from. However, small airplanes still use leaded gasoline.

♦ Lead-arsenate was a popular pesticide in the 19th century as a method of destroying the gypsy moth—an invasive species that became a severe nuisance to growers in the USA. It was used on a variety of crops, including rubber, coffee, and fruit trees.

Lead-arsenate pesticides were used for decades before being banned in the 1980s.

♦ Lead was used as an additive to paint for many decades for its ability to hasten the drying process. It is still present in millions of homes that were built before 1978, sometimes under layers of newer paint.

Although lead is used much less today, lead residue from past use remains in the environment for a very long time.

Lead Absorption and Removal

In our bodies, lead is absorbed and stored in the bones, mainly, especially when calcium is deficient. It is easily passed on through the generations because growing children and babies need a lot of calcium. Instead of calcium, they often get lead. This is a disaster for developing children and is associated with birth defects, lowered IQ, ADD, ADHD, autism, delayed development, and other childhood disorders.

Lead accumulates in the body and does not leave easily. So it’s important to actively avoid lead exposure and encourage its removal with proper nutrition and other detoxification protocols. It can take several years of nutritional therapy before lead is revealed on a hair analysis as it is eliminated through the hair.