Talk:Lead
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Article changed over to new WikiProject Elements format by maveric149
Information Sources
Some of the text in this entry was rewritten from Los Alamos National Laboratory - Lead (http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/82.html). Additional text was taken directly from USGS Lead Statistics and Information (http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lead/), USGS Periodic Table - Lead (http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/isoig/period/pb_iig.html), from the Elements database 20001107 (via dict.org (http://www.dict.org)), Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (via dict.org (http://www.dict.org)) and WordNet (r) 1.7 (via dict.org (http://www.dict.org)). Data for the table was obtained from the sources listed on the main page and WikiProject Elements but was reformatted and converted into SI units.
there are many reason to why metals have changed over the years.what do u think happend to pencil lead and why?
- Pencils never used lead. It was actually graphite from the time it was first invented. It was just called "lead" due to its similarity. 68.32.134.183 01:02, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
"This true metal is highly resistant to corrosion" Are you sure that this is true? Lead has a rather negative reduction potential and is easily attacked by Oxygen... Its resistance to Sulfuric Acid is only due to the insolubility of PbSO4! --malbi
"Lead is the fourth most widely used metal after aluminium, copper and zinc." Isn't iron more widely used than lead? The article on iron says that it's the most common metal in the universe, and the article on aluminum says "Whether measured in terms of quantity or value, aluminium's use exceeds that of any other metal except iron", which would put iron at the top, then. -- Arteitle 07:42, 2 Aug 2003 (UTC)
That also depends on what you mean with "metal" - if you include salts, Calcium or even Sodium might have good chances as well...
By all means, if you think something is wrong then fix it -- All I know was from the sources I cite above (which may be wrong) and I also incorporated a good deal of text that was here before the conversion. --mav 23:55, 3 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Re isotope 204 stablility -- inconsistent?
The isotope table in the article notes that isotope 204 has a half-life of ">1.4E17 years". This seems to indicate that the isotope is not stable, according to my understanding of the term; yet the textual section on "Isotopes" indicates that lead has 4 stable isotopes, including 204. This seems inconsistent.
For comparison, I note that a determination that bismuth isotope 209 was determined to be "not stable after all" at a half life of 1.9E19 years.
The article doesn't seem to mention the price of lead. This is an important thing to include. Tannin 10:39, 14 May 2005 (UTC)
Precautions
Doesn't seem to list any actual precautions that should be taken. -- eyrian
- Simple, don't eat it. Lead is not nearly as toxic as the vast majority of other chemicals. Even if you did eat it, you'd be in more danger of intestinal rupture from lead chunks than lead poisoning.
- Lead salts pose more of a danger, but even still, for most lead salts you'd need to consume large amounts for an extended period of time to have any ill effects.
- Darrien 18:17, 2005 Jun 14 (UTC)
- Good and well, but what about living on lead contaminated soil? I guess lead chunks aren't immediately dangerous, it's more a long-term environmental exposure type of problem, yes? Josh Parris ✉ 00:22, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- It depends on what kind of lead contaminated the soil. Any form of lead will leach into groundwater given enough time, but it would have to be a very toxic form of lead like an organometallic compound to pose any danger to someone just taking a stroll through the area.
- Darrien 03:25, 2005 Jun 15 (UTC)
- There have been a number of widely reported Playschool soil contaiminated with lead and shutdown type stories where I live; are kids playing in contaminated soil at any real risk? Josh Parris ✉ 03:48, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- I really can't answer a question like that without more information. Children *are* more susceptible to lead poisoning, but the media does have a history of sensationalizing stories such as these. Without hard facts, I can only say "it depends". If you have a genuine concern, I would recommend that you speak to a physician or toxicologist.
- Darrien 03:14, 2005 Jun 16 (UTC)
