LEAD FORMS AND CHARACTERISTICS
Lead has been used throughout history for many purposes because of its widespread availability, ease of extraction, and ease of processing. From ancient Roman aqueducts to modern batteries, lead has been widely used due to its high density and malleability.
Lead was one of the earliest metals used by humans. Some of the earliest lead artifacts date back to 6,500 B.C. Many societies, including the Egyptian Pharaohs, the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans, widely used lead for countless products. It was used in building construction, including roofs, piping and fastening bolts. Lead was also used in making tanks, gutters, statues, figurines, ornaments, coins, pots, kettles, cisterns, baths, glass, coffins and weaponry.
Lead continued to be highly used into modern times because of its favorable characteristics. Early cosmetics, pigments, paints, glazes, pesticides and gasoline contained lead. Today, lead is a component of numerous batteries, including Green Energy batteries necessary for cars, solar cells and wind turbines. Additionally, solder, pewter, stained glass, jewelry, pottery, ammunition, fishing tackle, communication cable, radiation protection and PVC plastics contain some form of lead. Needless to say, humans have used lead for thousands of years and, thus, it is readily available in our environment.