Chemistry....lead poisoning?????

Question

I am doing a project on lead poisoning and I need help in figuring out the chemical reaction and the chemistry behind what happenes during the reaction. How do you neutralize it?

Answer 1

Lead mainly affects the pathway for the production of heme (part of the hemoglobin present in red blood cells).  Precursors to heme build up, and in large amounts are toxic.  These cause the symptoms of acute lead poisoning.  The link has more information on the biological effects of lead.

Lead is "neutralized" by chelating it.  Chelation involves forming a complex ion with lead at the center.  If the correct ligands are chosen, the lead will be too tightly bound in the complex to be used by the body, and will be excreted without causing much harm.  Common chelation agents used to treat lead poisoning include EDTA and BAL.