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Lead: it's everywhere
Partial listing of the sources of lead
contamination in soil, dust, sediment, water, air and living creatures
by use:
Paint
- Paint on old interior or exterior walls, floors,
ceilings, boats, old furniture, toys, playground equipment, pencils,
and on modern steel structures such as bridges and tanks, vehicles, farm
machinery, whitegoods, etc.
Lead compounds in paint include:
- white lead (lead carbonate) as the prime white
pigment
lead compounds as anticorrosive pigments:
- - red lead (60% lead in dry film)
- - universal pink primer (red lead + white lead)
- - orange lead
lead compounds as coloured pigments:
- - lead chromate pigment (yellow): 56 % lead
- - lemon chrome pigment (lead chromate + lead
sulphate)
- - scarlet chrome pigment (lead chromate + lead
molybdate)
- - orange chrome pigment
- - metallic lead pigment
lead compounds as driers: - litharge paint
drier
- - lead naphthenate paint drier
Transport applications
- octane enhancer for automotive fuels
- valve lubricant for pre-1986 automotive valves
- lead-acid batteries for generators and automotive use
- train brakes
- aviation fuel for spark ignition engines
- cable sheathing on marine vessel
Building materials
- sheet lead flashings
- dampcourses
- old gas and water pipes
- lead solder for plumbing
- lead in bronze or brass alloys for plumbing valves
or fixtures
- cable sheathing for telephone and power cables
- red lead as a sealant on the back of old lino
- sound insulation
- wrought iron
- leadlight
- putty
- caulking
- lead compounds as pigments, catalysts, lubricants
and heat stabilisers in plastic resins, eg PVC piping
- pipe fitting and collapsible tubing
- earthquake dampening materials
Other uses
- lead arsenate (previously used as an
agricultural insecticide)
- some foil tops covering the corks of wine
bottles
- canned food seals (excluding baby food)
- lead crystal
- old jewellery
- dry cleaning
- old crockery
- old cutlery
- old metal toothpaste tubes
- lead glazed pottery
- sheet lead for radiation shielding
- Lead oxide in glass making and leaded glass for
radiation shielding such as in TV tubes
- fresh fruit and vegetables (natural lead levels
are especially high in spinach and silver beet)
- light bulbs
- fishing sinkers
- ammunition
- lead shot
- jockeys' and divers' weights
- lead solder in circuit boards in electronic goods
-
electronic capacitors and superconductors as a component of concrete
-
typesetting
-
packaging inks and some coloured inks in
newspapers
-
asphalt
-
lead for lining tanks and process vessels
-
nuclear waste containment receptacles
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