×
Login Register an account
Top Submissions Explore Upgoat Search Random Subverse Random Post Colorize! Site Rules Donate
6
4 comments block


[ - ] Crackinjokes 3 points 3 weeksApr 3, 2025 21:19:47 ago (+3/-0)

The primary source of lead in the blood of inner-city youth was the fact that lead was an additive in gasoline and so it was breathed in by

It very likely had nothing to do with paint.

I think this guy makes a very interesting point.

[ - ] BMN003 4 points 3 weeksApr 3, 2025 21:44:34 ago (+4/-0)

No, pretty much everything he says here is wrong. You're right about tetraethyl lead in gas being the number one source of public exposure (so bad that to this day the dirt around old car parks and such can give you acute lead poisoning if you dig in it without PPE.) But lead pipes were banned just five years after lead paint, and lead paint wasn't banned "because kids might be eating it." It was shown to Congress that when lead paint ages enough to start flaking, it releases a fine dust that can be ingested and inhaled as well.

Most importantly, lead paint does not actually contain enough lead to be a Faraday cage like he's suggesting. You'd have a coat about 2" thick by the time it started blocking microwave radiation. The foil layer in modern insulation is a stronger EM barrier, though neither does much.

[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey 0 points 3 weeksApr 4, 2025 05:13:21 ago (+0/-0)

Lead pipes is a misnomer. Pipes are made of steel, copper or plastic. The only lead in residential plumbing is either in the soldered joints of copper pipes or the very rare instances of a lead “sweep” 90 used in very old homes hundreds of years ago, most of which has been replaced.
I’d be more worried about plastic plumbing.

[ - ] BMN003 1 point 3 weeksApr 4, 2025 08:10:41 ago (+1/-0)

Solid lead service lines (the connection between main and meter) were still being installed in some places as late as 1986. Twenty to fifty feet of lead pipe doesn't contribute a lot of soluble lead, but it's not nothing either. However, yes, the more important '86 ban was lead solder, which was still being used extensively and actually has a radically higher leach rate per square inch than a solid pipe. And I agree with you that PVC is not to be trusted. Stick copper together with silver or weld stainless.