The Effects of Lead Contamination in Public Health Case: Pesarean Village, Tegal District, Indonesia

School of Environmental Science, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia.

^* Corresponding author: soesilo@indo.net.id

Abstract

Lead is one of the ten main chemicals that was found naturally in the earth's crust and has toxic effects to human health. Direct contamination due to the re-suspension of dust containing lead from soil can be inhaled by certain environmental conditions, for example in dry season and enter human body directly. The aim of this study was analyzing the effect of lead contamination toward human health in Pasarean Village.The research was conducted in Pesarean Village, Tegal District where metal smelting and used lead acid battery smelting had been done in more than 10 years ago and left the waste aside as an open dumping waste. The method that was used in this study were qualitative method using questionnaire and reviewing secondary data which was supported with literature reviews. The result showed that almost 80% of people has acute and chronic symptoms of lead poisoning and it showed that lead contained in blood was high or exceeding the blood lead level standard in human.