What was lead once commonly used in

It is also sometimes used in architecture, for roofing and in stained glass windows. Biological role. Lead has no known biological role. It can accumulate in the body and cause serious health problems. It is toxic, teratogenic disturbs the development of an embryo or foetus and carcinogenic. Daily intake of lead from all sources is about 0. The average human body stores about milligrams of lead in the bones. Natural abundance.

Lead is chiefly obtained from the mineral galena by a roasting process. Help text not available for this section currently. Elements and Periodic Table History.

Lead has been mined for more than 6, years, and the metal and its compounds have been used throughout history. Small lead nuggets have been found in pre-Columbian Peru, Yucatan, and Guatemala. The Greeks mined lead on a large scale from onwards and not only knew how to obtain the metal but how to covert this to white lead.

Because of its superb covering power, this was the basis of paints for more than years, until the middle of the last century. The Romans employed lead on a large scale, mining it mainly in Spain and Britain, and using it also for water pipes, coffins, pewter tableware, and to debase their silver coinage. While its mining declined in the Dark Ages it reappeared in Medieval times and found new uses, such as pottery glazes, bullets, and printing type.

In the last century it was a fuel additive. Atomic data. Glossary Common oxidation states The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom. Oxidation states and isotopes. Glossary Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey.

Relative supply risk An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk. Recycling rate The percentage of a commodity which is recycled.

Substitutability The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. Reserve distribution The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. Political stability of top producer A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators. Political stability of top reserve holder A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators.

Supply risk. Relative supply risk 6. Young's modulus A measure of the stiffness of a substance. Shear modulus A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material. Bulk modulus A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. Vapour pressure A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. Pressure and temperature data — advanced. Listen to Lead Podcast Transcript :. You're listening to Chemistry in its element brought to you by Chemistry World , the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Hello, this week we're sinking to new depths as we meet the metal that spawned the plumb line, a rock group, plumbing and even poisoning, not to mention a generation of alchemists who tried in vain to turn this substance into gold. It is of course lead, and here to swing it for us is science writer Phil Ball. Lead is the Eeyore of metals - slow, dull and heavy. In its Latin form, plumbum , it enters our vocabulary by virtue of its soft and ponderous character: we once plumbed depths with a suspended grey blob of the stuff, emphatically commanded by gravity, while plumbers have long since traded their malleable lead pipes for plastic.

Everything associated with lead tends towards over-burdened gloom: in the ancient scheme of metal symbolism, lead was linked to Saturn, the melancholy planet, personified by the old god also called Cronos who castrated his father and swallowed his children. Even the spark of glamour the metal gets from association with the world's greatest rock band stems from the Eeyorish prediction that they would sink like a lead balloon or zeppelin.

Yes, lead is the original heavy metal, the most notorious offender in that toxic group. Lead damages the brain and the kidneys, it can cause anaemia and a form of gout with the doleful title of saturnine gout.

Even the Romans knew about lead poisoning - the doctor Cornelius Celsus warned about the bad effects of lead white, used in paint and cosmetics, while the engineer Vitruvius recommended earthenware pipes over lead ones. Yet we were slow to learn. Lead white, a form of lead carbonate, remained the artist's best white pigment right up until the nineteenth century, when it was replaced by zinc white.

As paint manufacture became industrialized, lead white spread sickness and death among factory workers: a report in the Transactions of the Royal Society in the seventeenth century listed vertigo, dizziness, blindness, stupidity and paralytic affections among the conditions it caused.

And as late as in the toy manufacturer Mattel was forced to recall millions of toys made in China that had been coloured with lead paint. Meanwhile, a toxic trickle of lead from solder and the electrodes of batteries leaches slowly from landfill sites throughout the world. In the European Union effectively banned lead from most consumer electronics, but it remains in use elsewhere.

To alchemists, lead was the lowliest of metals - in a sense, it was where all metals started. In talk of base metals, which alchemy tried to turn to silver and gold, there was none so base as lead. The alchemists believed that lead slowly matured into other metals in the ground. But alchemy also offered lead a chance to shake off its grey and graceless image.

It does not take much to draw splendid colours out of lead. The ancient technologists blanched the dull metal by placing lead strips in pots with vinegar, and shutting them away in a shed full of animal dung. The vinegar fumes and gas from fermenting dung conspired to corrode lead into lead white. Heat this gently, and it turns yellow: a form of lead oxide known as litharge or, in the Middle Ages, massicot. Heat it some more, and it goes bright red, as you form a different kind of oxide.

Both of these substances were used by artists - red lead was, for a long time, their finest red, used for painting many a bright robe in the Middle Ages. It was the signature colour of Saint Jerome. To the alchemists, those colour changes weren't just a way to make pigments. They signified some more profound alteration taking place in the metal, bringing it close to the colour of gold.

It's no wonder, then, that their experiments often began with lead. They came no closer to making real gold, but they started to explore the processes of chemical transformation. Lead, however, seems habituated to revealing its true and dirty colours. Exposed to air, it may go on taking up oxygen until it turns black.

Red lead has become chocolate brown on paintings throughout the world, from Japan to India to Switzerland. In urban galleries there is another danger, as the sulfurous fumes of pollution react with red lead to from black lead sulphide. There seems to be no getting away from it: lead has a glum and melancholy heart. Phil Ball plumbing the depths of the scientific story of lead. The next edition of Chemistry in its element promises to be a record breaker. You can learn a lot about someone by meeting their family and the same is true for the element.

That's how we come to know so much about astatine. Often trumpeted as the rarest naturally occurring element in the world, it's been estimated that the top kilometre of the earth's crust contains less than 50 mg of astatine making it Guinness world record's rarest element. And you can hear Mark Peplow telling the tale of the world's rarest chemical in next week's Chemistry in its element. I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening, see you next time. Chemistry in its element is brought to you by the Royal Society of Chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists.

This type of ore has a low melting point so it was relatively easy to smelt, and lead became a byproduct of the more valuable silver. Humans have been making items from lead for around 9, years. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks used lead in cosmetics, glass and enamels. Other early civilisations used lead to make coins, as a writing material and for medicinal purposes. During the Middle Ages, lead was commonly used in roofing and piping due to its malleability and durability.

In , builders used tonnes of thin lead panels to cover the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral, and later tonnes went into its spire.

Lead was also a key component in the construction of firearms and printing presses. Lead production increased during the Industrial Revolution due to a growing demand for lead paints and plumbing.

Some ancient uses of lead continue today — weights, roofing materials, organ pipes and sculptures. Other uses are more modern — radiation shields in medical X-ray rooms and nuclear science labs and in lead-acid batteries.

The buildings use base isolators to protect them during an earthquake. The lead core deforms during an earthquake, absorbing some of the energy, and then reverts to its original shape. It was during the Industrial Revolution that doctors noticed diseases like gout were more commonly found in painters and plumbers than in the rest of the population. In New Zealand, lead was removed from all but clearly labelled special-purpose paints in and banned from petrol in The useful links section at the end of this article has information regarding lead poisoning, treatment and prevention.

Science and society can have differing views on an issue. When it was proposed to add lead to petrol in the s, scientists advised that it would be dangerous to people and the environment. The desire for cheaper fuel and safer cars prevailed, and lead was added.

Settled lead dust can re-enter the air when the home is vacuumed or swept, or people walk through it. Clean frequently using a wet mop, cloth or sponge to reduce the likelihood of chips and dust forming. Use a lead-safe certified renovator to perform renovation, repair and painting jobs to reduce the likelihood of contaminating your home with lead dust. Find a lead-safe certified firm near you. Lead has been used for a long time in a wide variety of products found in and around our homes, including painted toys, furniture and toy jewelry; cosmetics; food or liquid containers; and plumbing materials.

That favorite dump truck or rocking chair handed down in the family, antique doll furniture or toy jewelry could contain lead or lead-based paint. Biting or swallowing toys or toy jewelry that contain lead can cause a child to suffer from lead poisoning.

For example:. Learn about limits on lead in lipstick and other cosmetics. Food and liquids stored or served in lead crystal or lead-glazed pottery or porcelain can become contaminated because lead can leach from these containers into the food or liquid. Visit the FDA for more information on lead in food and containers.

Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials like pipes, faucets and fixtures that contain lead corrode.

Lead can enter drinking water through corrosion of plumbing materials, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content that corrodes pipes and fixtures. Homes built before are more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures and solder.

In , changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act reduced the maximum allowable lead content to be a weighted average of 0. The most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures with lead solder. Corrosion is a dissolving or wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction between water and your plumbing.

A number of factors are involved in the extent to which lead enters the water including the chemistry of the water acidity and alkalinity , the amount of lead it comes into contact with, how long the water stays in the plumbing materials and the presence of protective scales or coatings inside the plumbing materials. One requirement of the LCR is corrosion control treatment to prevent lead and copper from contaminating drinking water.

Corrosion control treatment means utilities must make drinking water less corrosive to the materials it comes into contact with on its way to consumers' taps. Lead can be found in hunting ammunition, fishing tackle, came and solder used in stained glass, weights used in stock cars, dyes and glazes used in pottery and many other places. If someone in your family is a renovator or contractor working in older housing, then find out more about lead-safe work practices.