Low levels of lead have seeped into millions of households through the drinking water because lead pipes were commonly used until the 1940’s. Even copper pipes used since then were connected with solder containing lead, although a few years ago in some places laws were passed requiring lead-free solder. Water fountains in schools and offices have been noted as sources of lead. If the local water is corrosive, it will dissolve lead in plumbing and carry it out through the tap and into your glass.

Soil and dust also carry lead. Crumbling paint chips and industrial smelters of lead have played a part. A big culprit is gasoline. In the 1920’s, lead was added to gasoline to prevent engine knocking. So cars and factories have spewed millions of tons of lead into the air, and it has settled into the dust and dirt of our planet. Lead-bearing dust may even come to rest on some of our food.

A Lead-Laden World?

AN OFFICER in the U.S. Air Force went through sudden and unexplainable personality changes. He lost 30 pounds [14 kg] and could not sleep. His wife became anemic and dehydrated. What was happening? Dishes the two had bought in another country were improperly glazed. They were leaking lead into the couple’s food.

In another case, a baby girl had almost stopped growing and could not digest her food properly. Why? The tap water in her home was contaminated with lead. A two-year-old boy got lead poisoning from the soil in his own backyard. Gasoline fumes from a nearby highway had tainted the dirt with lead.