ABSTRACT
In recent years a great amount of media attention has focused on the effects of industry on the environment. While a large portion of the attention has focused on "politically correct" issues such as waste incineration, nuclear waste disposal, and rainforest destruction, the environmental and biological damage due to metal contamination has largely been ignored by the media (although not by the scientific community). Lead poisoning, long known to occur in children through the ingestion of lead-based paint chips, is also virtually ignored by the media. In addition, the disposal of large quantities of nickel-cadmium batteries and lead-acid batteries in landfills, a source of groundwater contamination, receives scant attention.
