(Dioscerides 200BC)

Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates both in soft tissues and the bones. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in the body. Lead poisoning has been documented from ancient Rome, ancient Greece, and ancient China, yet lead paint was introduced for residential use in the 19th century. Typical lead-based paints in the early 20th century could contain as much as 40 to 50 % lead, however by the mid 20th century the use of lead in paint pigments was sharply reduced and replaced with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. On analysis of soil and paint samples, using atomic absorption spectroscopy, from an old farm house in south-eastern New South Wales I have shown that the exterior paint used on the house contained approximately 17 % lead, by mass, and that the degradation of this paint has contaminated the soil surrounding the house to possibly as far as 40cm from the house, and to a rate almost three times as high as the environmental investigation ‘trigger levels ’ set by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) in 1997[4][5]