Lead is a silvery metallic element that is soft, dense, malleable, and resistant to corrosion, making it ideal for a number of uses.Ê Its primary use (70%) is in lead acid storage batteries like those in cars. It is also used extensively in lining or covering less corrosion resistant surfaces on roofs, in acid baths, on power cables, or in pipes carrying corrosive materials.Ê It is used extensively in industrial paints for its anti-corrosive qualities and its ability to provide an optically bright white.Ê Its high density means that it blocks sound and high energy radiation, so it is used for sound proofing in industrial situations, in lead aprons, as shielding around radioactive components, and even in the cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in TV and computer monitors to block X-rays.

Ê ÊÊÊÊ Lead has been known since ancient times and reached the pinnacle of its use in preindustrial times with the elaborate plumbing systems built by the Romans. Also known since ancient times, were lead's toxic effects.Ê It acts by inhibiting oxygen and calcium transport, and by altering nerve transmission.Ê In modest doses ~ 10 mg/dL (micrograms per deciliter blood levels) it causes stomach cramping and vomiting.Ê Higher doses in adults can lead to stroke, and can damage the heart, reproductive system, liver and kidney. Very high levels (70 mg/dL) can cause seizures, coma and death.Ê In fetuses and children, lead has severe neurological effects and has been shown, even at doses lower than the 10 mg/dL federal standard, to be associated with mental retardation, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, hearing loss, and a tendency to violence. Lead can be taken up from the environment by breathing or by ingestion and then be accumulated in soft tissues like kidneys, liver, bone marrow and brain, and in hard tissues like teeth and bones.Ê Adults may take up 10-15 % of ingested or inhaled lead, but children can take up as much as 50% of the lead they are exposed to.Ê And, since lead accumulates, every new exposure adds to the risk.

ÊÊ Before the 1920's there was relatively little human generated lead in the environment (though still much more than background levels).Ê However, at the beginning of the automobile age, GM, DuPont and Standard Oil (now Exxon) formed Ethyl Corporation for the express purpose of producing tetraethyl lead (TEL) as a gasoline additive to reduce knocking in car engines.Ê Although their own research had shown that ethanol was a cheaper, safer and more effective additive, and their British subsidiaries marketed it as such, these corporations aggressively marketed TEL because it could be patented.Ê At about the same time, paint manufacturers were actively promoting leaded paint for residential uses because of its superior aesthetic and preservative qualities.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Leaded paint was banned in 1978 and leaded gasoline was banned in 1986, but decades of use left a thin layer of lead contaminated soil, dust and paint chips that affects children's health even 25 years later.Ê Herbert Needleman, who pioneered studies of lead's sub-lethal effects on children, estimates that 1 in 30 children are still affected and that even children with blood lead levels less than 10 mg/dL score 11 points lower on the Stanford-Binet IQ test than children with no lead. The good news is that average blood lead levels in U.S. children have dropped from 16 mg/dL to 2 mg/dL, primarily as the result of keeping lead out of gasoline.Ê As long as children don't come in contact with old paint or live near a smelter, blood lead levels should continue to go down.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊ The bad news is that as older sources of lead exposure are identified and dealt with, new ones appear.Ê The EPA estimates that the cathode ray tubes in discarded computers and TVs contribute 13 million lbs of lead to landfills every year.Ê Because this leadÊ and other hazardous materials in computers can migrate into the water supply, California and Massachusetts have banned them from land fills.Ê Fortunately monitors can be recycled.Ê The CRT can be crushed and smelted just like a car battery to recover the lead and other materials.Ê However, the U.S., alone among developed countries, allows hazardous materials like these to be exported for recycling.Ê The problem with this is that countries accepting them for recycling don't necessarily have the resources to do it safely.Ê In Guiyu, China (PRC) workers "recycle" computers by smashing them with hammers, burning and washing the pieces in acid to recover valuable metals and then dumping the busted components in the nearest low spot.Ê The water is so polluted that drinking water must be trucked in.Ê Hopefully the lessons learned in protecting our own children from lead will be applied to protecting other people's children. And hopefully, we won't wait 60 years to take action.

More on computer recycling and exporting hazardous materials
National Public Radio story:Ê http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2002/apr/computers/
American Chemical Society:Ê http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2001/nov/tech/kb_elec.html

BioRegional Quiz:
What is the average percentage of Missourians' personal income is spent directly on energy?

Job Opportunity: Regional Conservation Organizer - Southeast - Arkansas Sierra Club - The Regional Conservation Organizer works with regional field staff and chapter/group volunteers to organize support for grassroots campaigns, events and skills training and to generate turnout for campaign visibility events. Works with appropriate staff to integrate the regional field programs with the goals and objectives of the Sierra Club's Environmental Public Education Campaign. Creates demand for action on conservation issues. The Regional Conservation Organizer plans, organizes and implements the education and mobilization efforts of the Sierra Club on its Environmental Public Education Campaign efforts in various locations in the assigned region. Regularly works outside of the office and without direct supervision to communicate with officials, the media and the public. Works with professional staff in editing, writing, researching, and coordinating functions. Knowledge and skills required - 1-2 years experience working with volunteers in the environmental movement, political campaigns or similar experience. Current basic knowledge of environmental issues in the region. Current contacts with environmental coalition partners in same key media market. Excellent writing and editing skills, demonstrated skills in writing and production of newsletters. Good verbal communication skills. Strong organizational and problem solving skills. Ability to work independently. Ability to travel. Please send cover letter and resume to: Sierra Club - Southeast, Regional Staff Director, 1330 21st Way South #100, Birmingham AL, 35205-3904. Fax 205-939-1020.

Special Events/Classes/Programs/Talks
STREAM FESTIVAL 2002 - WE ALL LIVE IN A WATERSHED: Saturday June 1 at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, DevilÕs Icebox parking area. A crayfish pool, birds of prey, minnows and stream insects, giant dragonfly models and cave tours.
BUTTERFLY COUNT: Thursday June 13, 10 am to 2 pm, contact Diane Walk - dianewalk@hotmail.com or 442-2660

MU Organization Meetings and Contact Information
ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL 882-7116; envstudy@missouri.edu
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES EXEC COM 882-7116; envstudy@missouri.edu
RECYCLING COMMITTEE 882-3091 125 General Services Building

Organization Meetings and Contact Information
AUDUBON SOCIETY; 874-3904 / columbia-audubon.missouri.org Meet 3rd Wed 7:30 pm, USGS, 4200 New Haven
BONNE FEMME WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP; 874-1637 or email phoeniwolf@yahoo.com
BOONE COUNTY SMART GROWTH COALITION; http://smartgrowth.missouri.org/, 1st Wednesdays 7:15 Boone Co Govt Ctr. CHOUTEAU GROTTO; http://chouteau.missouri.org/, Meet 1st Wed, 7 pm, Community Room of the Boone Electric Coop
COLUMBIA FOOD CIRCLE; 882-7463 or email hendricksonm@missouri.edu for information.
COLUMBIA PUBLIC WORKS VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS; 874-6271 or http://www.ci.columbia.mo.us/dept/pubw/
COMMUNITY STORMWATER PROJECT: http://www.GoColumbiaMo.com/PublicWorks/StormWater/cswp.html
ENV EDUCATION WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES: http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/teacher/workshops/
FRIENDS OF ROCK BRIDGE STATE PARK; 474-7429 or http://rockbridge.missouri.org/ Meet 4th Tuesdays, 7 pm
GREENBELT COALITION; 442-4789 or http://greenbelt.missouri.org Meet 1st Tuesdays, 7 pm, Outdoors Bldg, 200 Old 63 S.
MISSOURI HEARTWOOD; 443-6832 or http://www.heartwood.org/MO/ Meet Tuesdays, 7:30 pm -1027 E. Walnut.
MISSOURI NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY; npshawth@hotmail.com Meet every other second Monday (Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov) at 7:00 p.m., usually at MDC Fish and Wildlife Research Center, 1110 S. College Ave., Columbia, MO.
MISSOURI RIVER COMMUNITIES NETWORK; 443-0292 or http://mrcn.missouri.org/
PEDNET COALITION; email: pednet@pednet.org or http://www.pednet.org
ROCK BRIDGE MEMORIAL STATE PARK; 449-7402 or http://rockbridge.missouri.org
SHOW ME CLEAN STREAMS COALITION; (573) 751-4115 ext 3169 or www.mostreamteam.org
SIERRA CLUB; 443-4401 or http://sierra.osage.missouri.org Meet 3rd Tuesdays 7:30 pm Hillel Foundation, 1107 University Ave
SMART GROWTH COALITION; tomvmoran@yahoo.com Meet 1st Wednesdays, 7:15 pm, Boone County Government Bldg.
WILD ONES; 499-3749 or email wildonesmo@yahoo.com, http://wildones.missouri.org Meetings 2nd Saturdays. Call for location

Answer to BioRegional Quiz:
Missourians spend 10.8 percent of personal income, or $10 billion, on energy. This is 0.6 percent higher than the average percent of personal income spent on energy in 1990 in most other states. Missourians consume the average equivalent of 2,655 gallons of gasoline per person every year. By comparison, the average family vehicle getting 21.5 mpg, driven 15,000 miles per year, consumes 700 gallons of gasoline used for transportation per vehicle. SEE http://www.dnr.state.mo.us/energy for more information.