Hi all

We are doing a case study on lead poisoning in water.
This is our case study!
15,000 people are being relocated from Jiyuan in central Henan province to other locations after 1000 children living around China's largest smelter plant (owned and operated by Yuguang Gold and Lead) were found to have excess lead in their blood.

                              This is Yuguang Gold and Lead smelter plant!

Lead toxicity

Tha main exposure of lead is through the respiratory and gastrointestinal track.
when adsorbed, the 99% of the lead will be bound to erythrocytes for about a month.
thus dispersing the lead over the body.

Lead will interfere with enzymes and structural proteins. Most prominently
affecting the heme synthetic pathway, specifically the enzyme delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (delta-ALAD; ALAD) the interference of heme production and drop in heme body pool is one of the main reasons of lead related pathology. When blood lead levels exceed 20 ug/dL, ALAD is inhibited by 50%. this prevents aminolevulinic acid (ALA) From converting to porphobilinogen, preventing iron from being incorporated to the protoporphyrin ring (holds iron).Thus there is a reduction of hemoglobin and cellular respiration.

http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/11/1/2.pdf

Lead toxicity (cont.)

http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/11/1/2.pdf

Hypoxic effect - "deficiency in the amount of oxygen that reaches the tissues of the body"  from http://lungcancer.about.com/od/Respiratory-Symptoms/a/Hypoxia.htm

Xenobiotics - "a chemical compound (as a drug, pesticide, or carcinogen) that is foreign to a living organism" from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenobiotic

Endogenous agonist - "an endogenous agonist for a particular receptor is a compound naturally produced by the body which binds to and activates that receptor." from http://dictionary.sensagent.com/endogenous+agonist/en-en/

Treatments

Chelation therapy - Medication binds with lead which is excreted through urine.

EDTA therapy -A chemical called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is used if lead levels greater than 45 mcg/dL. More than 1 treatment may be required. When the poisoning is too severe, the damage may be irreversible.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lead-poisoning/FL00068/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs