The Lead Problem in the United Kingdom - Case Study Example

THE LEAD PROBLEM The United Kingdom has undergone a tremendous risk to the effects of the use of lead. The old era of the use lead has haunted the present as well as the future like a hawk hunting its prey. The hazardous nature of lead has been exposed but implementation of policies is rather slow and their effects are slim. Thousands are affected by illness and poor health associated with the use of lead. Time is running out for these affected people as well as the potentially affected people. More stringent solutions should be implemented to curb this problem. Lead has been used as a convenient metal due to its properties. It has numerous industrial and domestic purposes because it has a low melting point and can easily be moulded into any shape or form. Nevertheless, despite the advantages of lead, it has many disadvantages. The effects of lead include lead poisoning resulting in "chronic effects on the nervous system - paralysis of motor nerves, poor aptitude (especially in children) and other effects on cognitive functions." ( Agius R 2006). Moreover, a study (Ferguson D & Horwood J L) has proven that hildren with high levels of lead in their blood score less on tests than those with lower levels of lead. Therefore, it is crucial to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the use of lead. Alternative methods to lead exist hence it is not worth risking the prejudice to human health and safety. The problem of the effects of lead has caused alarm in the United Kingdom. Numerous employees are affected or have the potential to be affected by lead. These include plumbers, glass manufacturers, construction workers, painters and petrol attendants. This has resulted in the enactment of legislation in order to control this problem. The Control of Lead at Work Regulations Act of 2002 stipulates that "an employer shall not carry out work which is liable to expose any employees to lead unless he has made a suitable and sufficient of the risk..." (Section 5(1)). The Act further regulates the conditions under which lead may be used. These conditions are very stringent and absolute. The Government has enforced a number of measures in order to curb the drastic effects of the use of lead. One of these measures was to ban the sale of lead fishing weights in 1986 as this had a negative impact on fish as well as humans who would eventually consume the fish. Moreover, the Department of Environment introduced a consultation paper in March 1997 in order to ban the use of lead shot in wetlands. The Code of Good Shooting Practice has been introduced to ensure that non-lead shots are used when hunting. Therefore, in terms of the environmental impact of lead, the Government and the Department of Environment have had a general success rate of curbing the effects of lead. There are of course problems with violators of the law; however, close monitoring and penalties have eased this problem. The environment is one element of the problem. On the other hand, the health impacts of the use of lead are devastating. According to the 2009 Berkeley Report, "Decreased brain function in adults has been associated with blood lead concentrations of 20 to 50 ug/100ml." The report further states that Government removes workers from exposure when their lead level exceeds this amount. It appears at first glance that this is an ideal remedy. However, studies have shown that exposure to lead has a cumulative effect. The affected person will still suffer from lead poisoning when re-exposed to the lead environment. This solution thus has a yo-yo effect. The Health and Safety Executive of the United Kingdom adheres to various legislation on the use of lead and also implements various campaigns to control the problems associated with the use of lead. However, the Health and Safety Executive is diverse and deals with health and safety issues in general. Thus the problem associated with lead is not addressed in isolation. It is merely treated as one of the health and safety problems in the country. Indeed, the Health and Safety Executive has been accused by the media of ignoring the effects caused by the use of lead. The media accuses the Health and Safety Executive of being aware of the problem but not having the intention of doing anything about it (Hazards Magazine,2009). Thus with state bodies ignoring the problem, the sky is still misty as regards the lead problem. The United Kingdom is suffering great loss and harm caused by the use of lead, especially regarding occupational health and safety. The media has exposed the severity of the lead problem. Thousands of United Kingdom workers are suffering from major health defects due to exposure to lead (Hazards Magazine, 2009). This magazine further denotes that UK workers are at a high risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and reproductive problems, amongst others. The exposure of people to lead has become like a pandemic. It is slowly deteriorating the health of ordinary British subjects. There are various measures that have been implemented to reduce the dangers of exposure to lead. These include the prosecution of employers who negligently expose workers to lead and revising the HSE standard in order to set the normal exposure level of lead. These measures, amongst others, have been implemented by the various government bodies in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, more needs to be done in order to alleviate this problem since thousands of people are affected by lead each day. The best solution to greatly reduce the exposure to lead is to ban all unnecessary uses of lead. Lead is important in certain industries, but greater research and assessment needs to be made on the alternatives to lead. Science has advanced to such an extent that this is possible. Despite the negative effects of lead, one study has shown that lead can be useful if used in a small quantity. The study was aimed at determining whether lead shielding can be used to decrease the radiation dose to the fetus during CT scans during pregnancy. The conclusion of the study the radiation level to the fetus from a CT scan could be greatly reduced by using a minimal amount of lead to shield the radiation ( Kennedy E V, Iball G R & Brettle D S). This proves that lead does have a positive use. However, as advantageous as this may seem, the overall effects of lead are horrific and its use should not be encouraged. In a nutshell, the use of lead in the United Kingdom is a cause for concern. A great number of people are exposed to the risks associated with lead. The health hazards are irreversible and human lives are at stake. The Government and its various bodies have implemented various measures to curb this problem, but these are not enough as thousands are still being affected. The use of lead should be banned where possible. In fact, the use of lead cannot justify the dangerous effects it has on people's health. Prepared by Raissa Mupaya Bibliography 1. Kennedy E V, Iball G R & Brettle D S 2009, 'Investigation into the Effects of Lead Shielding for Fetal Dose Reduction in CT Pulmonary Angiography', The British Journal of Radiology 2. O'Neil R 2009, Hazards Magazine, Nov 2009 3. Glenn B S 2006, 'Changes in Systolic Blood Pressure Associated With Lead in Blood and Bone', Epidemiology, volume 17, pages 538-544 4. 2009 Berkeley report 5. Tuormaa T E 2009, 'The Adverse Effects of Lead', Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine, vol 4, issue 4, pp 449-461 6. Porkas M A & Kneeland M R 2008, 'Lead Poisoning: Using Transdisciplinary Approaches to Solve An Ancient Problem', Ecohealth, vol 5, pp 379-385 7. Agius R 2006, 'Lead in the Environment and Health', web, www.agius.com/hew/resource/lead.htm 8. Ferguson D & Horwood J L, 'The Effects of Lead Levels on the Growth of World Recognition in Middle Childhood', International Journal of Epidemiology, vol 22, no. 5, pp 891-897 Read More