Standing up to the Lead Industry: an Interview with Herbert Needleman
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2447-2158.i19p220-251Keywords:
Lead, Neurotoxin, History, Herbert Needleman, IndustryAbstract
This text is the result of an interview conducted by historians David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz with Herbert Needleman, a physician and pioneer in medical history who helped transform our understanding of the effects of lead (Pb) on children's health. David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz are well-known American historians and scholars, recognized for their work and contributions in the fields of Public Health and the History of Medicine, with several books and articles pub-lished. This translation was initially carried out by our group in 2009 on the occa-sion of the Symposium on Lead and Human Health, which included the publica-tion of articles in Portuguese on the topic in the journal MEDICINA, from FMRP/USP (https://www.revistas.usp.br/rmrp/issue/view/36). The goal was to disseminate, in Portuguese, to our society, the challenges surrounding the scientific proof that lead is a neurotoxin. For the publication of the interview in the journal Khronos, an introduction was added to update the reader on the latest data, which confirms that any amount of lead is toxic to the human body. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has established a dedicated week for raising awareness and preventing lead contamination. The interview highlights important milestones that led to the publication of essential articles for modern toxicology. However, it also reveals the personal struggles of Herbert Needleman—including losing his job at the prestigious Harvard Medical School—after being sued by the lead industry for alleged ethical misconduct. This interview will undoubtedly in-spire current and future generations of scientists to view the challenges of research in toxicology and environmental science from a new perspective.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Natalia Macedo-Ribeiro, Glauce Regina Costa de Almeida, Raquel Fernanda Gerlach, Carolina de Souza Guerra, Élida Cristina da Costa Rodrigues, Fernando Barbosa Jr
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