Amber Lead

Amber Lead was a white ore that was found only in the country of Flevance.

Overview
Its fabricated products all give off a white shiny coat that made the material an instant success and a practical gold mine for the country, proving wealth and riches for the people. The products made from Amber Lead vary from wall paint to pottery as well as make-up and weapons. The ore is also used up by plants, giving them its white color.

This lead to the country being nicknamed the White City and its population living wealthy lives, but ironically enough, the ore was the cause of the downfall of Flevance. Over a century ago the World Government discovered in their geological surveys of the island that the ore became slightly poisonous when exposed to the surface but they and the royalty of Flevance decided to keep it a secret from the public because of the wealth it brought, allowing amber lead to accumulate over the years.

Even more ironic, is when neighboring countries started to shoot down any infected Flevance citizens who tried to exit the country's quarantined borders, the Flevance citizens have more lead bullets than they ever needed to retaliate. This led to a war, which ended with Flevance's destruction.

Amber Lead Syndrome
Amber Lead Syndrome (珀鉛病) is a non-contagious, but hereditary, disease caused by the accumulated build up of amber lead in the victim's body after constant exposure to the ore or material products created with amber lead. Amber Lead poisoning is unnoticeable in its early stages when it is in low concentration,but its effects were observable given that each passing generation were given shorter lifespans. This is due to the fact that the level of amber lead concentration in a child is obtained from his or her parents leading to everyone in Flevance having the same but accumulating concentration of amber lead poisoning over a few generations. By the time around the Golden Age of Piracy, the poison has accumulated to the point where a generation of children will die before coming of age and leaving any descendants.

When the concentration reaches worrying levels, signs and symptoms of the disease are easily visible on the victim. White blotches of skin will appear on the victim's body and their hair is bleached white. They also feel chronic pains all over the body where the white spots are, causing much suffering until eventual death. Because of the fact that everyone in Flevance has the same level of amber lead poisoning, coupled with the Government's refusal to disclose the disease's true nature, the island was declared a quarantine zone that ultimately lead to the island's ruin. The doctors of the island were helpless in stopping the disease, though Trafalgar D. Water Law's father, the best doctor of the country, was adamant that a cure is possible since the disease is not contagious. Because of this incident, even doctors from all over the world came to the incorrect belief that Amber Lead Syndrome is contagious, and anyone who has it is a danger that should be exterminated with prejudice, all the while without bothering to look into the facts; only few people outside Flevance and the World Government knew that the syndrome cannot be transmitted via human contact, such as Donquixote Doflamingo.

Although Law, the sole infected individual to escape the island, was destined to die at age 13, he proved his father right by obtaining a cure and living to this day, at age 26. Doflamingo had told Law that a possibility in saving him from this seemingly incurable disease is a Devil Fruit power, which are so varied that one with such powers may show up. True to Doflamingo's claim, Law eventually consumed the Ope Ope no Mi, which allowed him to remove the Amber Lead that accumulated in his body.

Translation and Dub Issues
Hakuen (珀鉛) is not a real compound in the Japanese language. The first kanji, 珀 means amber and is pronounced haku. It contains the radical 白, meaning white, which can also be pronounced haku (for example, in Hakuba the White Horse). This makes a pun in that Hakuen can also mean white lead, which is appropriate considering the color of the substance and Flevance's name as the "White City".

In the real world, white lead is a naturally occurring mineral that has been banned for causing lead poisoning. The actual Japanese spelling for that white lead is 鉛白 (pronounced Enpaku).

Trivia

 * The amber lead is quite similar to asbestos, a highly profitable mineral that was once used all around the world, and can be found in all kinds of goods. But use of asbestos was discontinued when it was discovered to cause serious and even fatal diseases. And much like in the case of the amber lead, many governments initially ignored the scientific and medical reports about asbestos's toxicity, continuing to allow its use into the 1980's, while the negative effects had been known since the 1890's.
 * The symptoms of amber lead poisoning also resemble those of cadmium poisoning, known in Japan as "Itai-itai disease" (イタイイタイ病), literally meaning "it hurts-it hurts disease". Similarly to the amber lead syndrome, cadmium poisoning is known to cause pain all over the body and paleness of the skin. The fate of Flevance also mirrors cases of cadmium poisoning in Japan during its industrial revolution in the early 20th century. As the need for metal continued to grow, pollution from mining operations went unchecked, eventually resulting in rivers being contaminated with cadmium. The water from the river was used for rice field irrigation, and eventually poison began to slowly accumulate in the bodies of people eating the rice.

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