Pharmacology Research in Environmental Signaling: Life Expectancy, Invisible Lead Dust, and Proactive Intervention to Reduce Childrens Pb Exposure in New Orleans, LA (USA)

Author(s): Howard W. Mielke, Christopher R. Gonzales, Eric T. Powell

Pharmacology is the study and research into the chemistry of life. This paper discusses the environmental signaling and external chemicals utilizing internal signals.There is no known safe level of lead exposure. Lead contact is determined clinically by measuring blood as a biomarker to determine exposure. The standard follow-up to excessive lead exposure is a reactive intervention of the individual’s residential house. The intervention method has been deemed ineffective at reducing children’s lead exposure. Measuring lead in the environment of communities along with the blood lead biomarker serves an alternative environmental signaling approach for assessing the source and inform a proactive method for curtailing exposure. The goals of this paper are: to describe environmental signaling for unearthing New Orleans’s lead problem, to explore the influence of a large natural flooding event on the environment and children’s lead exposure in the city, and to apply the knowledge acquired to reduce children’s lead exposure in lead contaminated communities of the city.