Almost all electronic devices that we use daily consists of Lead. This is because lead has individual crystals that produce an electric voltage when pressure is applied. Leads are found in batteries, glass panels and gaskets of computer monitors, and solder in printed circuit boards and other components. There are tonnes of severe health implications of the leads found in the electronic wastes produced every day. Lead is just one of the harmful elements of the electronic waste that you are generating. Visit Mobitrade to know how you can stop generating electronic waste without spending a single penny. In this blog, we will be talking about lead and its health impacts.

Why is Lead one of the most toxic elements present in nature today?

 In the year 1971, Congress put a restriction on using lead paints in households in America. The harmful effects of lead have been well-established for a very long time. But very little is done to stop this element from its implications. The history of usage of this metal dates back to 3000 B.C. However, there is almost no trace of it, showing any kind of corrosion. It lives on forever untouched by nature and every natural or human made component. Lead has a sweet taste, and that acts as an incentive for many children to swallow it. It causes some irreparable damage to the Central Nervous System. It can also cause anemia, behavioral changes, and other learning disabilities. The damages caused by lead are as permanent as its very existence, often leading to death.

Why do electronic manufacturers use lead?

Lead has the following properties:

• It is highly durable.
• It doesn’t corrode with time.
• It has a very high melting point.

Despite the health implications, these properties have been almost impossible to resist by the manufacturers of electronic goods. The cellphone that most of us use consists of at least 0.3% lead. Now we may think that the lead content is really low. But think about the billions of electronic wastes filling up landfills annually. The percentage of lead now increases by 50 folds. In the present scenario, there are millions of tonnes of lead already hovering in the atmosphere. Does that sound like a horror story to you?

Severe health impacts of lead:

Breathing in, swallowing, or absorbing, no matter how the lead is entering the human body, is equally harmful. Higher concentrations of lead enter the body at a go when a lead is inhaled. We will now be looking at some short-term and long-term impacts on human health:

Short-term effects

When a person is exposed to very high lead concentrations for a short time, the condition is known as lead poisoning. The most common symptoms of lead poisoning are:

• Constipation
• Pain in the abdomen
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of memory
• Exhaustion
• Headache
• Physical weakness

These symptoms of lead poisoning are either overlooked or considered to be a symptom of some other disease. Exposure to lead can also cause damage to the kidney, brains, other organs of the body, and ultimately cause death. Children are more prone to lead poisoning.

Pregnant women shouldn’t be exposed to lead by any chance. It is not only capable of damaging the health of the mother but also the baby. Lead can cross the placenta and cause severe damage to the unborn child. They are sometimes affecting their Central Nervous System.

Lead is also responsible for infertility, stillbirths, and miscarriages. 

A person’s symptoms from prolonged exposure to lead are similar to the short-term effects. They are as follows:

• Pain in the abdomen
• Constipation
• Inadequate mental health or depression
• Memory loss
• Nausea

There is a 90% chance of being affected by heart diseases, kidney diseases, infertility, and high blood pressure when you are exposed to lead for a long time. Research from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),  International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proved that lead is also responsible for causing cancer.

How can lead enter the human body?

You may not be aware, but you could be living with lead in your home and workspace. Take a look:

• Paint – Homes or places that are newly painted have lead dust scattered all around. It might be inhaled, swallowed by children, and also contaminate the food we eat.
• Dust inside our homes – Dust particles inside our homes may also consist of lead particles.
• Water pipes – The water from the source may be clean. But water pipes may have lead dust. This contaminates the water and paves its way inside the human body very quickly.
• Soil – When a building is painting, lead dust can spread to the ground. When we walk on this very soil, it gets easily picked up by us.
• Pottery and ceramics – Glazed terracotta and China and crystal may consist of some lead. So the products made from them, although they look fascinating, may consist of information.

There are several other ways our body can be exposed to lead without you having the slightest clue about it.

Although most cellphones and electronic gadgets consist of a tiny amount of lead, they are non-destructible. And with the pace at which electronic goods are being dumped, the amount of information in the atmosphere has increased rapidly. It is a silent killer.

How can we help this situation?

There are many upcoming substitutes of lead that scientists and researchers are working on. But still, there is a long way to go before these metals get entirely replaced. So what is the next best thing you can consider doing? We have got an easy solution.

So the next time you are thinking of discarding your cell phone. Consider donating it to us. For presenting, reach out to us on 8700172840 or 8448712131 or visit our website, www.mobitrade.in.

We do doorstep pickup of your old cellphone, repair them, and help them reach the individuals who need it. There is no cost involved on your side. Your cellphone ends up fulfilling what it is meant to do instead of getting dumped way before its real life-span is over.

Instead of donating, if you are considering exchanging your cellphone, then also you can contact us. We provide the best deals on exchange. Your old cell phone then reaches people who need it but cannot afford it. So stop generating electronic waste and causing environmental catastrophes and health hazards. Make the Earth breathable again.