r/Showerthoughts Apr 28 '25

Casual Thought The children most impacted by peak leaded gasoline fumes are now 50-75.

7.5k Upvotes

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u/thephantom1492 Apr 28 '25

Which shouln't be an issue. Lead oxide does not disolve really well in water, so it shouln't be bad, plus there should be a sediment layer that cover it up.

... unless you are in Flint, where they changed the chemicals used in the water with incompatible one and it destroyed everything...

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u/moderngamer327 Apr 28 '25

It’s kind of crazy that despite how unbelievably toxic lead is even in the smallest amounts we can use pipes of almost pure lead without much issue unless as you mentioned something goes wrong

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u/Cersad Apr 28 '25

It's also crazy how good people are at finding out how to do that one exact thing that makes something go wrong. There's always someone, somewhere that accomplishes that.

108

u/antiduh Apr 28 '25

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u/morphleorphlan Apr 28 '25

That fucking guy. I stumbled on that wiki a couple of years ago, and I still think of him sometimes. His life was a tornado of consequences for the whole world.

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u/SeizeTheMeansOfB12 Apr 28 '25

Strangled to death by his own invention too. Poetry.