Six months ago, Mr. Ericson received a set of hand-made ceramic mugs. Since then

Question

Six months ago, Mr. Ericson received a set of hand-made ceramic mugs. Since then, he has used the mugs to drink one cup of coffee every morning. Recently, Mr. Ericson began to exhibit the signs of lead poisoning. He was examined by his physician who found that the lead-level in his blood was 60mg/dL. For a man Mr. Ericson’s size, this means he has 0.33 grams of lead in his blood and tissues.

The ceramic mugs were tested and found to leech 7950 (0.00795g) of lead into a cup of coffee. Mr. Ericson’s physician explains that when an adult subject ingests lead, only 15% is absorbed and goes directly into blood and tissue. From there, 0.39% per day is transferred into the skeleton and 3.22% is eliminated by bodily waste. Although some amount of lead deposited in the bones leeches back into the bloodstream, the amount is negligible.

Determine if the ceramic mugs are responsible for Mr. Ericson’s elevated blood levels. Explain your answer in a short paragraph.

Explanation / Answer

WHEN the mug was tested it was found that the mug leeches .00795g of lead into a cup of coffee
and we know that Mr. Ericson consumes 1 cup of coffee every day in the ceramic mugs
considering that each month is of 30 days so 6 months will have = 30*6 = 180 days
so a total of .0079*180 = 1.431 grams of lead goes inside Mr. Ericson's body over a period of 6 months.
Now the tests show that out of 1.431grams of lead , 15% is absorbed and goes into the blood and tissues
so the amount of lead present in Mr. Ericsons body due to the ceramic mug is = 15%of 1.413 = .15*1.413 = .21465 grams.
Since there is .33 grams of lead present i Mr. Ericsons body and .21465 grams comes from the mug so the ceramic mugs are not
responsible for Mr. Ericsons elevated blood levels.

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