This guide is adapted with permission from the This Lead is Killing Us exhibit guide created by the Martin and Gail Press Health Professions Division Library of Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Visit the original resource.
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The National Library of Medicine produced This Lead Is Killing Us: A History of Citizens Fighting Lead Poisoning in Their Communities, guest curated by historian and educator Richard M. Mizelle, Jr, PhD (University of Houston).
The traveling banner exhibition and companion website explore the story of citizen action taken against an environmental danger. Lead exposure can cause neurological problems and sometimes even death; yet this metal has been pervasive in many aspects of American life for over a century. Historically, mining, battery manufacturing, smelting, and enameling industries included lead in their production processes, impacting factory workers and consumers. Manufacturers added lead to household paints and gasoline, endangering the health of families and polluting the air through exhaust fumes. To protect themselves against the dangers of lead poisoning, scientists, families, and individuals opposed industries, housing authorities, and elected officials.
This Lead is Killing Us includes an education component featuring a K-12 lesson plan that challenges students to examine historical cases of lead poisoning through primary and secondary sources. A digital gallery features a curated selection of fully digitized items from NLM Digital Collections that showcase numerous historical scientific studies and reports about the dangers of lead.
The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website.