Introduction

In a world of rapidly changing technologies, lead and other classical metals and alloys have continued to maintain their importance. Lead (chemical symbol Pb), is an essential commodity in the modern industrial world, ranking fifth in tonnage consumed after iron, copper, aluminum, and zinc. In 1996, the United States, China, the United Kingdom. Germany, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Italy, France, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, India, and Brazil accounted for 77% of the 6.045,000 metric tons of refined lead consumed in the world [1). Slightly over half of the lead produced in the world now comes from recycled sources.