Lead in the urban environment—2

Abstract

In the urban environment the two main culprits appear to be lead paints and airborne lead from automotive traffic. As to the first, there are actually in the market low‐lead but not free‐lead paints, and the former may be quite toxic. The second culprit is airborne lead from car exhaust fumes. This is certainly a European if not a worldwide problem, since airborne lead concentration, overwhelmingly due to automotive traffic, is now ranging from 0^.5 to more than 10 μg/m³ in European cities. Airborne lead is taken up by lungs in a proportion of 27–62%, a fact to be reflected upon in view of lead inhalation in certain factories and in city streets. The so‐called safe blood lead levels are now seriously questioned due to contradictions in the literature and in clinical case histories involving children. The removal of lead from petrol is advocated.