Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-348) and index.

Introduction : What's lead in the bone ... -- 1. Plumbing the depths -- 2. Childhood lead poisoning before 1930 -- 3. Toxic purity : how the United States became a nation of white-leaders -- 4. Occupational lead poisoning in the progressive era -- 5. Protecting workers and profits in the lead industries -- 6. Company doctors on the job -- 7. Introducing leaded gasoline -- 8. Defining childhood lead poisoning as a disease of poverty -- 9. Urban physicians discover the silent epidemic -- 10. The screaming epidemic -- 11. Facing the consequences of leaded gasoline -- 12. The rise and fall of universal childhood lead screening -- 13. Regulating "low-level" lead poisoning -- Appendix: Reports on lead poisoning. "In Brush with Death, social historian Christian Warren offers the first comprehensive history of lead poisoning in the United States. Focusing on lead paint and leaded gasoline, Warren distinguishes three primary modes of exposure - occupational, pediatric and environmental. This threefold perspective permits a nuanced exploration of the regulatory mechanisms, medical technologies, and epidemiological tools that arose in response to lead poisoning."--Jacket.