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Heavy Metal Poisoning in the Environment and the Poor

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What are some examples of environmental sources of exposure of populations to toxic heavy metals? What factors can exacerbate the effects of toxic exposures on populations with low socioeconomic status?

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The solution provides information, assistance and advise in tackling the task (see above), on the topic of heavy metal poisoning, the environment and the poor. Resources are listed for further exploration of the topic.

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Dear Student,
Hi, and thank you for using BrainMass. The solution below should get you started. In this particular task, you are asking for help in discussing the topic of heavy metal poisoning. I suggest making it simple using this outline:

1. On heavy metal poisoning and environmental sources - 150 words
2. Factors affecting HMP among the poor - 100 words 3. Examples for #2 - 100 words

Just let me know via the feedback section if you need further clarification. You can use the listed resources to further explore the topic. All the best with your studies.

Heavy Metal Poisoning in the Environment

Metal poisoning or heavy metal poisoning is often referred to as metal toxicity whereby certain metals in one form or another have a toxic, and sometimes fatal effect on living things including of course, human beings. This happens when metals form poisonous soluble compounds or when they are not essential minerals and do not have any biological role (an example of this is lead where exposure in heavy doses can lead to eventual death). The reason why it is called heavy metal poisoning is that more often than not, it is the heavier metals where exposure can lead to poisoning. These metals include aluminium phosphide, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, iron (when there is a large excess of iron intake), lead, lithium, manganese, lead, mercury, thallium and tin. According to the Life Extension Foundation (2014), "Heavy metals with adverse health effects in human metabolism (including lead, cadmium, and mercury) present obvious concerns due to their persistence in the environment and documented potential for serious health ...

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Xenia Rochelle Jones, MA, PhD (IP)
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  • MPhil/PhD (IP), Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • MA, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • Certificate, Geva Ulpan (via Universita Tel Aviv)
  • BA, University of the Philippines
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