Lead is an extremely versatile heavy metal which is used in a diverse range of products and applications. Use of lead dates back to ancient times when the Egyptians used lead in their plumbing. Later, many other peoples, including the Greeks and Romans, took advantage of the softness, low melting point and ease with which lead mixes with other materials to forge a variety of long lasting domestic appliances. Such was the benefit endowed by lead upon the lives of ancient humans.

Modern society has also benefited from the extensive use of lead but, armed with knowledge wrought from experience and learning, lead is no longer regarded as an innocuous useful metal. Instead twentieth century society is attempting to come to grips with the considerable and damaging repercussions of widespread and continuous lead exposure.

The purpose of this background paper is to address the particular concern regarding the sources of lead, the effect of lead on the cognitive development of children, and the efforts at reducing human lead exposure in Australia.