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In
the SpotlightLead
Poisoning: What Parents Should Know |
 Lead
is a highly toxic metal that produces a range of adverse health effects, particularly
in young children.
Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. However,
nearly 1 million children living in the United States have lead levels in their
blood that are high enough to cause irreversible damage to their health.
There
are many sources of lead exposure: deteriorated paint in older housing, and dust
and soil that are contaminated with lead from old paint, drinking contaminated
food and water, and from past emissions of leaded gasoline.
Airborne lead
enters the body when you breathe or swallow lead particles or dust once it has
settled. Lead can leach into drinking water from certain types of plumbing materials
(lead pipes, copper pipes with lead solder, and brass faucets) and can also be
found on walls, woodwork, and the outside of your home in the form of lead-based
paint. Lead can be deposited on floors, windowsills, eating and playing surfaces,
or in the dirt outside the home.
About two-thirds of the homes built before
1940, and one-half of the homes built from 1940 to 1960 contain lead-based paint.
Some homes built after 1960 but before 1978 may also contain lead paint. Most
paint made after 1978 contains no intentionally added lead, since it was banned
from use on the interior and exterior of homes.
What are the effects
of lead poisoning?
The long-term effects of lead in a child can be
severe. They include learning disabilities, decreased growth, hyperactivity, impaired
hearing, and even brain damage. If caught early, these effects can be limited
by reducing exposure to lead or by medical treatment. If you are pregnant, avoid
exposing yourself to lead. Lead can pass through your body to your baby. (In adults,
lead can increase blood pressure and can cause digestive problems, kidney damage,
nerve disorders, sleep problems, muscle and joint pain and mood changes.)
What
can be done to prevent lead poisoning?
There are simple things you
can do to help protect your family.
1. Get your
child tested
Even children who appear healthy may have high
levels of lead. You can't tell if a child has lead poisoning unless you have him
or her tested. A blood test takes only ten minutes, and results should be ready
within a week.
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that children be tested
for the first time when they are a year old, or at six months if you think your
home has lead in it or if you live in an older building;
Children older than one year should have a blood test every couple of years or
every year if your house or apartment contains lead paint, or if you use lead
in your job or hobby;
2.
Keep it clean
Ordinary dust and dirt may contain lead. Children
can swallow lead or breathe lead contaminated dust if they play in dust or dirt
and then put their fingers or toys in their mouths, or if they eat without washing
their hands first. Children between 12 and 36 months of age have a lot of hand
to mouth activity, so if there is lead in their homes, they are more likely to
take it in than are older children.
Keep
the areas where your children play as dust-free and clean as possible; Wash
pacifiers and bottles after they fall on the floor. Keep extras handy; Mop
floors and wipe window ledges and chewable surfaces such as cribs with a solution
of powdered automatic dishwasher detergent in warm water. Do this twice each week.
Wear gloves to avoid possible skin irritation. (Dishwasher detergents are recommended
because of their high-phosphate content. Most multi-purpose cleaners do not contain
phosphates and are not effective in cleaning lead dust.); Wash
toys and stuffed animals regularly; Make
sure your children wash their hands before meals, naptime and bedtime.
3.
Reduce the risk from lead paint
Most
homes built before 1960 contain heavily leaded paint. Some homes built as recently
as 1978 may also contain lead paint. This paint could be on window frames, walls,
the outside of your house, or other surfaces. Tiny pieces of peeling or chipping
lead paint are dangerous if eaten. Lead paint in good condition is not usually
a problem except in places where painted surfaces rub against each other and create
dust. (For example, when you open a window, the painted surfaces rub against each
other.)
Make
sure your child does not chew on anything covered with lead paint, such as painted
windowsills, cribs, or playpens. Keep children away from areas where paint is
chipped or peeling. Don't
burn painted wood. It may contain lead.
4.
Don't remove lead paint yourself
Families
have been poisoned by scraping or sanding lead paint because these activities
generate large amounts of lead dust. Lead dust from repairs or renovations of
older buildings can remain in the building long after the work is completed. Heating
lead paint may release lead into the air.
Ask
your local or state health department if they will test your home for lead paint.
Some will test for free. Home test kits cannot detect small amounts of lead under
some conditions. Hire
a person with special training for correcting lead paint problems to remove lead
paint from your home, someone who knows how to do this work safely and has the
proper equipment to clean up thoroughly. Don't try to remove lead paint yourself.
All
occupants, especially children and pregnant women, should leave the building until
all work is finished and a thorough cleanup is done.
5.
Don't bring lead dust into your home If
you work in construction, demolition or painting, with batteries or in a radiator
repair shop or lead factory, or if your hobby involves lead, you may unknowingly
bring lead into your home on your hands or clothes. You may also be tracking in
lead from the soil around your home. Soil very close to homes may be contaminated
from lead paint on the outside of the building. Soil by roads or highways may
be contaminated from years of exhaust fumes from cars and trucks that used leaded
gas. If
you work with lead in your job or hobby, change your clothes before you go home.
Encourage
your children to play in sand or grassy areas instead of dirt, which sticks to
fingers and toys. Try to keep your children from eating dirt, and make sure they
wash their hands when they come inside.
6.
Get lead out of your drinking water
Most well or city water
does not naturally contain lead. Water usually picks up lead inside your home
from household plumbing that is made with lead materials. Boiling the water will
not reduce the amount of lead. Bathing is not a problem because lead does not
enter the body through the skin.
The
only way to know if you have lead in your water is to have it tested. Call your
local health department or your water supplier to see how to get it tested. Household
water will contain more lead if it has sat for a long time in the pipes, is hot,
or is naturally acidic. If
your water has not been tested or has high levels of lead:
-do not drink,
cook or make baby formula with water from the hot water tap.
-if the cold
water hasn't been used for more than two hours, run it for 30 to 60 seconds before
drinking it or using it for cooking.
-consider buying a filter certified for
lead removal and call EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline for more information.
7.
Eat right
A child who gets enough iron and calcium will absorb
less lead. Foods rich in iron include eggs, lean red meat and beans. Dairy products,
such as milk, cheese and yogurt are high in calcium.
For
more information about lead poisoning, go to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) Childhood
Lead Poisoning Prevention Center or the Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/lead/nlic.htm.
Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
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© 2000 PersonalMD.com. All rights reserved.
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