ABSTRACT
The history of the use of lead is well known and has been described through the centuries. The ill effects were well enough known to be part of the social commentary in the 19th century writings of Dickens, Hardy, and Shaw. In 1869, Dickens described the working conditions in an East London lead mill and the women who worked there, and it must be one of the best analyses we have of the relationship between working conditions, employer responsibilities, and worker risks. Working women were seen to be more than doubly vulnerable to their unsanitary and hazardous home and work environment when they bore children. Alice Hamilton’s approach was appropriate for the US when considering the extreme jeopardy in which women were placed socially and medically during a time when the social legislation affecting maternal and infant health was in its early stages.
