Name: 鉛如何影響你的身體？——Gerald Markowitz 與 David Rosner (How lead affects your body - Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner)
Uploaded: 2025-11-16T20:00:45.000Z
Duration: 5 min 5 s

In the 1970s, pediatrician Herbert Needleman and colleagues collected and analyzed the baby teeth of school children across Boston and Philadelphia in return for small rewards.

在 1970 年代，小兒科醫生 Herbert Needleman 和他的同事們收集並分析了波士頓和費城學童的乳牙，作為交換，他們會給予一些小獎勵。

But their so called tooth Fairy project confirmed a dark reality.

但他們所謂的牙仙子計畫證實了一個黑暗的現實。

進階被動語態

Lead is a metallic element that's distributed across Earth's crust.

鉛是一種分佈在地殼中的金屬元素。

When it enters the human body, it can destroy disrupt many critical processes that span various systems, producing a diverse set of symptoms.

當它進入人體後，會破壞並幹擾橫跨各種系統的許多關鍵過程，產生多樣的症狀。

This is because the body tends to falsely recognize lead as similarly charged metallic elements like calcium, iron and zinc, and

這是因為人體容易誤將鉛識別為帶有相似電荷的金屬元素，像是鈣、鐵和鋅，

use it in their place for essential reactions, wreaking whole body havoc.

並在必要反應中將其取代使用，進而造成全身性危害。

For example, lead can disrupt the synthesis of hemoglobin, an essential protein to the body's oxygen transporting red blood cells.

例如，鉛會干擾血紅蛋白的合成，而血紅蛋白是人體攜帶氧氣的紅血球的一種重要蛋白質。

And it can compete with iron to be absorbed in the intestines.

它也會與鐵競爭，在腸道中被吸收。

Both things can lead to anemia and fatigue.

這兩者都可能導致貧血和疲勞。

Lead can also cross the blood brain barrier, damaging neurons and interfering with the activity of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.

鉛也會穿過血腦屏障，損害神經元並幹擾血清素和多巴胺等神經傳導物質的活性。

This can spur cognitive and behavioral changes, including hyperactivity and aggression.

這可能引發認知和行為改變，包括過動和攻擊性。

And because of negative effects in other areas, lead exposure can also cause high blood pressure, headaches, pregnancy complications and abdominal, joint and muscle pain.

由於在其他方面的負面影響，鉛暴露也會導致高血壓、頭痛、妊娠併發症以及腹部、關節和肌肉疼痛。

Mimicking calcium, lead may also get stored in teeth and bone, then released back into the bloodstream later in life.

鉛會模仿鈣，也可能儲存在牙齒和骨骼中，然後在生命後期重新釋放到血液中。

And because children's bodies are smaller and still developing, they're especially sensitive.

由於兒童的身體較小且仍在發育中，他們特別敏感。

Lead exposure can lead to developmental delays, cognitive and behavioral issues, and

鉛暴露可能導致發育遲緩、認知和行為問題，以及

at high enough concentrations, seizures, coma and death.

在足夠高的濃度下，會導致癲癇、昏迷和死亡。

No level of lead exposure is considered safe, no matter how small the amount.

任何劑量的鉛暴露都被認為是不安全的，無論劑量多小。

So lead is obviously a serious health concern, and people actually made that link early on.

所以鉛顯然是一個嚴重的健康問題，而人們其實很早就發現了這種聯繫。

In BCE, Roman architect Vitruvius noted lead workers pallor and health issues.

在公元前，羅馬建築師維特魯威就注意到鉛工人臉色蒼白和健康問題。

And 1 18th century Italian physician similarly attributed the frailty and abdominal pains of potters to lead.

而一位18世紀的義大利醫生也同樣將陶工的虛弱和腹痛歸咎於鉛。

Yet despite the long known health risks, lead became incredibly popular during the 19th and 20th centuries.

然而，儘管鉛的健康風險早已為人所知，鉛在19世紀和20世紀卻變得極受歡迎。

Its malleability made it appealing for molding into things like pipes, coins and pans.

它的延展性使其適合用於鑄造成水管、硬幣和鍋子等物品。

And its opacity meant it was an effective pigment in paints and cosmetics.

而它的不透明性則意味著它是一種在油漆和化妝品中有效的顏料。

Sounds pretty great if you were to overlook or obscure lead's toxicity.

聽起來很棒，如果你忽略或掩蓋鉛的毒性。

And unfortunately, certain people were set on doing just that.

不幸的是，有些人就是這麼做的。

By the early 20th century, there were widespread reports of brain damage, convulsions and death among children who inhaled or ingested lead, most often from paint.

到了20世紀初，有廣泛的報導指出，吸入或攝入鉛（最常見的是來自油漆）的兒童出現腦損傷、抽搐和死亡。

In 1921, the League of Nations passed lead paint restrictions, which were enacted in many countries.

1921年，國際聯盟通過了對鉛漆的限制，許多國家都已實施。

But the US Never joined the League of Nations, and

the American lead industry aggressively promoted lead products as safe and advocated for leaded gasoline.

而美國的鉛產業則積極推廣鉛製品的安全性，並倡導使用含鉛汽油。

Through the 1960s, activist groups like the Young Lords and Black Panthers brought attention to lead poisoning.

直到1960年代，像Young Lords和Black Panthers這樣的行動主義團體開始關注鉛中毒問題。

The lead industry, in turn, attempted to blame the issue on lower income parents.

而鉛產業則試圖將問題歸咎於低收入家庭的父母。

Their claim that the parents didn't prevent their kids from crawling around and putting their hands in their mouths typical behavior among children.

他們聲稱父母沒有阻止孩子們在地板上爬行並把手放進嘴裡，這對孩子們來說是典型的行為。

But evidence about lead's harms were accumulating.

但關於鉛危害的證據卻不斷累積。

When Edelman's team compared the lead levels in the baby teeth they'd collected, they realized the children with the highest amounts performed worse on cognitive and behavioral assessments.

當Edelman的團隊比較他們收集的嬰兒牙齒中的鉛含量時，他們發現鉛含量最高的兒童在認知和行為評估上的表現較差。

Findings the lead industry attempted to undermine and obfuscate Gradually, the US introduced laws against lead paint in the 1970s, lead water pipes in the 80s, and

鉛產業試圖破壞和混淆這些發現。到了1970年代，美國逐漸推出了反對鉛漆的法律，80年代是鉛水管，

leaded gasoline in on road vehicles in the 90s.

90年代則是道路車輛的含鉛汽油。

But none of this undid the damage of decades of aggressive lead.

但這一切都無法彌補數十年來積極推廣鉛的損害。

Implementation of removing lead is dangerous, time consuming and costly.

移除鉛的過程既危險又耗時且昂貴。

As of 2024, lead paint still coats walls and contaminates soil and water worldwide.

截至2024年，鉛漆仍覆蓋著牆壁，並汙染著全球的土壤和水源。

Tens of millions of people in the US alone drink water from lead pipes.

光是美國就有數千萬人飲用來自鉛水管的水。

The lead industry made billions following the same denial and disinformation playbook the oil and tobacco industries used, sometimes even relying on the same consulting firm.

鉛產業遵循著石油和菸草產業的否認與誤導手法，賺取了數十億美元，有時甚至依賴同一家諮詢公司。

There have been some steps towards justice in California.

在加州已經有一些朝向正義邁出的步伐。

In 2019, lead manufacturers were ordered to finance over $300 million worth of lead paint replacement.

2019年，鉛製造商被命令出資超過3億美元更換鉛漆。

A glint of levity and a history leaden with industrial greed.

一絲輕鬆的氣氛，以及一段充滿工業貪婪的歷史。

If you enjoy learning about history, subscribe to this channel because the lessons of yesterday can help us face the challenges of today.

如果你喜歡學習歷史，請訂閱這個頻道，因為昨天的教訓能幫助我們面對今天的挑戰。