Least loved of all the elements, lead is about as sexy as grandma’s minivan. Worse than its lack of sex appeal, it has remained a significant industrial pollutant that has bedeviled government agencies for decades, as they’re caught between stricter regulations that negatively affect economic output and the general welfare of the population they’re supposed to protect. Commercially, lead is still present in everyday life where in solid, elemental form it raises few red flags. Car batteries, fishing line sinkers and bullets are three examples where lead is still commonly used. None of these should worry you during their productive lifetime. It’s when the battery is carelessly tossed in the garbage, the sinker is lost at the bottom of the lake and that wild caught deer full of buckshot is eaten that it becomes a bigger concern. Older homes are another headache because even if it has no lead piping the soldered joints probably do, as does all the paint coats prior to the 1980’s and most certainly if you have the bad luck (and taste) of still having shag carpeting from that era.

All the danger points back to microscopic bits of lead and lead-based compounds sneaking into the air you breathe and the food you eat. As it gathers past a certain threshold it becomes a toxic which the body cannot cope with and begins damaging the liver, kidneys and nervous system. It is a particularly alarming concern for households with children as it impairs both their growth and mental development. Luckily, the industrialized world has made great strides in lowering environmental levels of this heavy metal but in poorer countries this remains an ongoing issue.

As far as collectibles go, lead is actually a prime beneficiary of the ampule treatment. Not so much, again, because of worries over direct handling but rather because in the absence of air these little chunks will appear much brighter from lack of tarnish. If all lead were this nice the term ‘lead gray’ would go into disuse!