At the time of writing, the topic of lead pollution is the subject of an intense and sometimes heated debate. The argument centres upon possible adverse health effects arising from exposure of children to current environmental levels of lead. Such arguments now appear little closer to resolution than they did five years ago, although the development of ever more sophisticated biochemical and epidemiological techniques may eventually provide an answer. Over the past five to ten years, as the general public has become aware of the lead issue, pressure has been put upon governments to limit emissions of lead, and hence limit or reduce the exposure of the population to the metal. Govern­ ments and governmental agencies have responded in several ways, varying between those who prefer to take little or no action on the basis that they see no cause for concern, and those who have taken firm action after concluding that the scientific and medical evidence warrants this approach. Any effective control strategy for lead requires knowledge of the sources of environmental exposure and an understanding of the pathways of this metal in the environment. This book aims to provide such information and to explain the methods available for limiting emissions of lead from the most important sources. To put this information in context a chapter on the routes of human exposure to lead and the health effects is included.

1 Introduction.- References.- 2 Lead in the atmosphere.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Sources of lead in air.- 2.3 Concentrations of lead in ambient air.- 2.4 Particle size distributions.- 2.5 Chemical properties of atmospheric lead.- References.- 3 Lead in water.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Sources of lead in surface waters.- 3.3 Concentrations of lead in water.- 3.4 Chemistry of lead in water.- References.- 4 Lead in soils.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Sources of lead in soil.- 4.3 Concentrations of lead in soil.- 4.4 Uptake of soil lead by living organisms.- 4.5 Chemistry of lead in soils.- 4.6 Lead in street dusts.- References.- 5 Control of lead in air.- 5.1 Industrial sources of lead.- 5.2 Control of industrial emissions of lead.- 5.3 Legislative regulations affecting industrial lead emissions.- 5.4 Control of lead emissions from motor vehicles.- 5.5 Ambient air quality standard for lead.- 5.6 Control of lead within the workplace.- References.- 6 Control of lead discharges to water.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Water quality criteria and standards.- 6.3 Uniform emission standards versus water quality objectives.- 6.4 Control practices for lead discharges.- References.- 7 Human exposure to lead and its effects.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Sources and intake of lead.- 7.3 Uptake of lead.- 7.4 Metabolism of lead.- 7.5 Blood leads.- 7.6 Biological and adverse health effects of exposure to lead.- References.- 8 Chemical analysis of lead in the environment.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Chemical analysis of lead: available techniques.- 8.3 Sampling and analysis of environmental media.- 8.4 Contamination during lead analysis.- References.