Dr. Mitch Erickson is a retired environmental chemist spoke to Rotary on August 18 about the perils of lead exposure and its general eradication from everyday life over the past decades. Lead has been used in a variety of situations, primarily plumbing, since the time of the Roman Empire.
Mitch
Dr. Mitch Erickson is a retired environmental chemist. He spoke to Rotary on August 18 about the perils of lead exposure and its general eradication from everyday life over the past decades. Lead has been used in a variety of situations, primarily plumbing, since the time of the Roman Empire. It was even present in whitening makeup used by geishas and Queen Elizabeth I. Scientists linked high levels of lead exposure to negative health effects, namely a decrease in IQ. During the 1900s, there was an increase in human everyday exposure to lead, particularly with its inclusion in gasoline, paint, and in soldering for canned foods (like tuna). We learned about Dr. Pat Patterson (a Cal Tech professor), who used lead dating to more accurately determine an age of 4.55 billion years for the Earth and who created the clean room (where you take measures to avoid bringing outside contaminants into a laboratory). Dr. Paterson advocated before Congress and industries for the removal of lead from the products with the highest human exposure. Thanks to Dr. Patterson's work, lead exposure has drastically decreased since the 1980s. Studies of lead levels in children's blood samples demonstrate Dr. Patterson's campaigns have been successful.
Dr. Erickson also shared that the Old Guard meets weekly on Tuesdays at 10 am at the New Providence Presbyterian Church. Men are welcome to join, and women are welcome to attend as a guest.