Lead Poisoning Prevention

Lead (Pb) is a naturally occurring metal that has been used in a wide-variety of products including paint, gasoline, plumbing materials, ceramics, batteries, cosmetics, and more. In recent decades, the federal government has phased lead out of many of these products, due to the hazards lead poses to our health. For example, the manufacture of lead-based household paint was banned in 1978 and the use of lead in gasoline, which began to decline in 1973, was eliminated by 1996.