Lead is a very deceitful metal. It looks totally harmless, with a gray silvery surface, but is a potentially lethal element once within the confines of the human body. It has been the topic of concern for some time now, and will remain to do so since nothing has been done to eliminate its danger from the environment.

We are exposed to lead almost every day of our lives, and many common household items contain lead in one form or another. Some of these include paints, ceramics and pottery, newsprint, crystal and stained glass, electronic components, batteries, gasoline and diesel fuel, food cans, water pipes, fishing weights, some cosmetics and some traditional medicines. Although most of these products may claim to possess acceptably low levels of lead, they still pose a long-term danger to the user, since lead is cumulative and does not degrade in any way. Hence, successively lower levels of lead do add up to dangerously high levels within the body. This form of exposure is termed "chronic exposure", and is common.

Lead has no biological use in the body, and behaves very similar to calcium. Calcium is perhaps the most widely used element in the body, being involved in almost every metabolic pathway. As such, lead also becomes involved in every aspect of life's function. Like calcium, lead becomes deposited in the bones, and is mobilized in times of stress, fatigue, growth and reproduction; hence the effects of lead are amplified in children and pregnant women.

The effects of lead are vague and lead poisoning, especially chronic low level poisoning, is difficult to diagnose, hence it is usually detected in the latter stages, where the damage is already done, and the effects are relatively permanent. Chronic exposure to lead has been confirmed as leading to memory loss, and reduced IQ levels in children, along with anemia, hearing and speech impairment, low resistance to diseases, mental retardation, reduced growth and stature, brittle bones, degradation of posture, muscular dysfunction and kidney dysfunction.

Acute lead poisoning differs significantly from chronic lead poisoning since it involves exposure to high levels of lead for much shorter periods. The effects of acute lead exposure are more profound and affect even the most resistant of adults. Some of the symptoms include abdominal cramps, memory loss, insanity, anemia, poor resistance to diseases, nerve and muscular damage, speech and hearing disabilities, behavioral changes, kidney and liver failure, sterility, and eventual death. In pregnant women, lead has been known to cause fetal deaths and deformation.

Lead is still a common component of paints, particularly oil paints. A common lead containing paint is the red lead oxide rust proofing paint used in automobiles, boats and burglar proofing and metal gates. Some while paints also contain lead in the form of white lead oxide and are still used in Trinidad and Tobago. Safe alternatives do exist, but these are more expensive. Even so called "lead free" paints do contain some lead, especially gloss paints where one of the components of the gloss is a lead-containing compound. In the United States, leaded paints are being phased out, and the greatest danger arises from old paints, which have claimed the lives of a number of infants.

The coloured inks in newsprint do also contain lead compounds, which are released to the atmosphere when burnt. The vapours can be easily inhaled and absorbed into the blood stream. It is advised that newsprint not be used to start fires, or burnt.

An interesting case occurred in the United States where a baby who was exclusively breast fed was diagnosed with lead poisoning, the source being newsprint logs burnt at the family's fireplace.

Ceramics are also a common cause of lead poisoning especially when the earthenware has not been properly fired. Drinks have been known to leach lead from the glaze so contaminating the drink and the drinker. It is recommended that beverages not be stored in ceramic containers. The same applies to crystal glassware, whose clarity is a result of added lead compounds.

Fuels such as gasoline and diesel, along with automotive batteries are among the largest sources of lead in the environment. Gasoline and diesel contain the compound tetraethyl lead, which issued to raise the octane rating of the fuel and as an anti-knocking agent in the engine. This compound is particularly dangerous since it can be absorbed directly through the skin. Tetraethyl lead has been responsible for severe lead poisoning of gas station attendants and refinery workers. One of the most common indications of this type of poisoning is violent insanity, of which some cases have been reported in Trinidad. The combustion of this fuel by the vehicle releases the lead into the atmosphere via the emission, and is suspected to be the main cause of chronic low level exposure to lead in many urban communities. Unleaded gasoline has been manufactured in Trinidad and Tobago for over a decade, but has been exported up to recently, when unleaded fuels was finally introduced to the local market - though at a much higher price than leaded fuels.

Lead from automotive batteries is one source of acute lead poisoning. The poor handling of discarded batteries has resulted in the death of at least one child in Trinidad, and many others throughout the Caribbean. The batteries are usually broken and the lead removed for smelting into fishing weights or used to repair other batteries. Discarded casings and strips of metal are usually dumped or buried. In one case, a two-year-old boy died of lead poisoning in Eastern Trinidad, as a result of exposure to broken battery casings buried by his grandfather over 15 years ago.

The indiscriminate dumping of lead wastes has been confirmed in over a dozen areas in East Trinidad alone, with Wallerfield being the largest and most popular. Some of these sites include rivers, farms, wetlands and residential areas. Other less common sources of lead have been listed earlier, and these just illustrate the extent of lead exposure citizens are faced with.

The problem of lead poisoning is widespread not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but throughout the developing world. The lack of capital is partly to blame for this, since lead and its compounds are still cheaper than the alternatives. However, the cost for treatment of lead poisoning, and the social implications manifested buy its victims far overweigh the increased cost of using alternatives to lead.

The formation of the Environmental Management Authority is a step in the right direction, but this is only the beginning of the healing process.