Conte Hoisington 1

Chris Conte and Zach Hoisington

Mr. Acre
Advanced Placement Calculus
2 February 2015
Lethal Lead
Lead is a dangerous poison that has been contaminating children for hundreds of
years. Lead is a bluish-white lustrous metal that has seen utilization since 5000 B.C.
Typically, lead is used in metal products, such as cables and pipelines, as well as in
paint. Consequently, lead is one the four most metals as they pertain to the health of
humans (Lead). Therefore, it is dangerous to expose oneself to lead paint or another
lead product for extended periods of time. Here lies the issue with many big cities such
as Detroit: The children are always surrounded by lead. The older homes in Detroit, as
well as other major cities, have unhealthy amounts of lead inside them, which is proving
detrimental to the development of many young children. Worst of all, the lack of
awareness of the problem that lead poisoning presents has accentuated this serious
issue. Both short term and long term benefits will be reaped if actions are taken to
reduce the amount of lead in the atmosphere and environment around us.
Predominantly, lead is most abundant in the Earths crust. Nonetheless, lead
exposure among humans is the effect of human activities. For thousands of years, lead
has been utilized in a variety of ways. Lead poisoning and contamination has recently
come to the forefront due to extreme lead usage during the twentieth century. Copious
amounts of lead may be found in lead based paints, household dust, and even in the
water that passes through lead pipes. Since 1978, lead paint and other lead products

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have been used far less frequently (Lead and Your Health). Despite abandoning the
use of lead paint in future endeavors, this solution failed to account for all of the lead
that has already taken residence in our homes. The unaccounted for lead has been
extremely problematic as chipping has resulted in contamination of our children.
Tragically, young children that are most likely to accidentally consume lead are
particularly vulnerable as they are still growing. Lead poisoning at a young age may
result in the contamination of the development of the body, brain, and metabolism.
Further, lead poisoning is posing academic, behavioral and health problems for young
children.
Once lead enters the bloodstream, it disperses throughout the body and attacks
cells, resulting in many issues. In the brain, the lead inhibits the transfer of
neurotransmitters. Without the ability to efficiently transport information from different
parts of the body, victims of lead suffer from many behavioral issues. Even small
amounts of exposure may cause children to appear inattentive and irritable. Basically,
these children are losing control of their own bodies and impulses as they continue to
be affected by lead poisoning (Lead Exposure In Children Affects Brain And Behavior).
The intake of lead into the blood also has an adverse effect on the ability of
young children to learn. Lead negatively impacts the brain by inhibiting its ability to learn
and retain information. In Detroit, where lead contamination is running rampant, studies
have been conducted to depict this issue. First, approximately 58% of children in the
Detroit Public School system are affected by lead poisoning, and out of the roughly
39,000 tested, only 23 had no lead found in their bodies (Lam). A study done on
children in the Detroit Public School system showed that children with higher levels of

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lead scored lower on their standardized MEAP tests. On three of the four subject tests
that included in the MEAP, the average levels of lead in students with a particular score
was lower than the average lead levels of students of all possible lower scores, and
higher than the average lead levels of students of higher scores (Lam). This data
shows a definite correlation between high lead levels and the inability to learn
effectively. Second, in a study in 2003, researchers found that children with levels of 10
micrograms of lead had IQs 7.4 points lower than those of children with just 1
microgram of lead. After that initial gap, they found that each increase of 10
micrograms would cause children to lose another 4.5 IQ points (Lam). Both of these
studies show that lead can cause serious learning problems for exposed children.
Lead exposure has also been known to cause many serious health-related
concerns. There are seemingly endless amounts of health issues that are associated
with being exposed to even minimal amounts of lead. Some of the many symptoms
include persistent fatigue and stomach pains, loss of appetite, and even insomnia. If
these symptoms arent bad enough, prolonged exposure to lead can do even more
damage. Some of the long-term health risks associated with lead poisoning are poor
muscle coordination, permanent nerve damage, and sensory impairment. Furthermore,
children who are exposed to lead have additional risks. Children with a history of lead
exposure are often susceptible to permanent brain damage, liver and kidney damage,
and developmental delays (Human Health and Lead). With all of these adverse
effects, lead is truly a danger to the health of anyone that it contacts.
Despite all of the health concerns, the most dangerous aspect of lead
contamination is how long it stays in the body after it enters. Lead enters the blood

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stream through food, air, or water. Upon entering the blood stream, lead travels to the
bones and tissue. Lead begins to collect in each of these compartments as lead enters
the body externally and is transferred between compartments. The most realistic way of
approximating the amount of lead in each of these compartments is through the use of
Eulers Method.

Figure
1.
Transfer of Lead Within the Body
Figure 1 shows how lead is compiled within the bones, blood, and tissues of the
human body. The rate in which lead transfers from one compartment to another is
shown by the transfer coefficient, k. For example, the rate in which lead from the blood
stream can transfer into the tissue is represented by k ab. Integrating the differential
equations created by these transfer coefficients allows Eulers Method to be used to
approximate the concentration of lead within the blood, tissue, and bones.

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A ( t ) =49.3+ previous A +0.0124 B+0.000035 C0.036 A
Figure 2. Amount of Lead in the Blood at time t

B ( t )= previous B + 0.0111 A0.0284 B

Figure 3. Amount of Lead in the Tissue at time t

C ( t )= previous C +0.0039 ( A ) 0.000035(C)

Figure 4. Amount of Lead in the Bones at time t
Figures 2, 3, and 4 show the Euler equations that can approximate the lead
concentration in each of the compartments on any given day. The constants
proportionality constants have been replaced by their experimental measurements.
Further, the constant value of 49.3 in the equation for lead in the blood was calculated in
the same Rabinowitz Study. This value shows the average rate of ingestion of lead in
micrograms per day. As shown here, lead does not leave the body very quickly at all.
The lead stays the longest in the bones.

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2000.00
1500.00
Blood
1000.00

Tissue
Bones

500.00
0.00

1
23
45
67
89
111
133
155
177
199
221
243
265
287
309
331
353
375
397

LeadinBody(micrograms/dL)

2500.00

Day

Figure 5. Lead in Body with Constant Addition

Figure 5 shows the equations in Figures 2-4 graphically. This graph tracks the
lead in the body over the course of 400 days with constant addition of lead. The blood
increases in lead content most quickly but levels off above the 1500 micrograms/day
mark. Next is the tissue, which gains lead a little more slowly and levels off lower than
the blood, around 600 micrograms/day. Finally, the bones gain lead the slowest, but
increase steadily and from this graph, show no signs of leveling off. Because of the slow
lead intake, it can be assumed that lead will also take a long time to leave the bones if
lead was not constantly added, which is not necessarily true with the blood and tissue.
Over an 800 day period, the graph continues along the current trend. Blood and tissue
stay leveled off, but bones continue to increase.

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2000.00
1500.00
Blood
1000.00

Tissue
Bones

500.00
0.00

1
49
97
145
193
241
289
337
385
433
481
529
577
625
673
721
769

LeadinBody(micrograms/dL)

2500.00

Day

Figure 6. Lead in Body with Lead-Free after 400 Days

Figure 6 is similar to Figure 5, but Figure 6 shows the graph of lead in the body
over an 800-day time period with the subject being placed in a lead-free environment in
the second half of observation. The first 400 days are identical to the graph of Figure 5.
After that is when this graph gets interesting. When placed in a lead free environment,
lead leaves the blood and tissue quite quickly, comparatively. However, the lead stays in
the bones much longer. The peak lead in the bones at any given point based on this
graph is 2438.10 micrograms per deciliter. This lead content decreases so slowly that
lead content reaches half of the max amount (around 1219.05 micrograms/dL) 20,463
days, or 56.06 years, after lead is removed. Lead leaves the blood and tissue relatively
quickly, but takes an extremely long time to leave the bones. It is safe to say for lead
would stay in the subjects bones for the rest of his or her life without an anti-lead
medication. If an anti-lead medication is administered, the lead level in the bones
reaches half at day 17,878, or 49.98 years after the subject begins the treatment. The
medicine makes a bit of difference, but not much.

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The Detroit Free Press article is very important to the community and the United
States in general. With this article, the dangers of lead based paint and pipes in homes
are discussed. It truly brings to light something that was known to be a problem but
never fully discussed. The data is shocking and intrigues the reader intellectually and
emotionally. The article makes the reader want to make a difference, and hopefully even
change possible dangers in his or her own home. Basically, the article brings a
prevalent problem to the attention of the public who may not have already known the
situation. Through discussion of statistics, the problems severity is discussed.

Figure 7. Lead Poisoning in Our Community

Thankfully, lead poisoning is not a huge issue in the community in which we live.
This is probably due to the fact that this area is relatively new construction, past the time
when builders used lead paint and pipes. Lead poisoning is, however, a huge deal in the

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Detroit area, as shown by the red circles. Detroit is an older area, so the new
construction methods were not used while building the majority of Detroit.
Lead poisoning is a serious problem. Children are being affected constantly by
the lead content in their bodies. They cannot control the lead that enters their body at a
young age and in turn it hinders them later in life. It is truly a hard problem to control
based on the pure mass of ways to ingest lead and the inability to avoid it. If anything,
the best way to control the lead intake of children is to stop them from eating lead paint
or being in the lead paint environment. This can be achieved by repainting the house
with a paint that is not based with lead. The lead paint must be first safely removed,
however. Also, replacing lead pipes with other materials, such as copper, will most
definitely help control the amount of lead entering childrens bodies. On a smaller scale,
spreading the word of this problem can help raise awareness and potentially get the
problem closer to being solved.