Lead Poisoning - Is Your Child at Risk?

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Lead Poisoning - Is Your Child at Risk?

The Quick Facts: Lead poisoning is an environmental health concern that affects our children. In 1978, there were nearly three to four million children with elevated blood lead levels in the United States. By 2002, that number had dropped to 310,000 kids, and it continues to decline. Although there are often no symptoms associated with lead poisoning, it can cause serious harm such as brain damage, behavior problems, headaches, hearing loss, hyperactivity, developmental delays, other physical and mental problems, and even death. Lead is found in various places in and out of the home. There are steps you may take to decrease your child's exposure to lead. This article explains how you can keep your child and your home lead-free.

At my daughter's one year check-up, my pediatrician gave me an order for blood work that would test for the presence of lead. The thought of sitting in a lab as the technician pricked my squirming one year old was a bit stressful, and I wasn't sure it was something I wanted to put my child (or myself) through. Several of my friends decided not to have their children's blood tested for lead because they lived in newer homes and assumed their child was not at risk for lead poisoning. In the end, I brought my daughter in for the blood lead test, and it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Since my daughter's blood lead test, I have learned much more on the topic, and I am glad that I made the choice to have her tested.

What is Lead Poisoning?
Lead poisoning is a toxic condition that occurs when an individual is consistently exposed to levels of lead above the federally defined Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). Lead poisoning primarily affects red blood cell chemistry and the nervous system. When ingested, lead has the ability to mimic metals, such as iron and zinc. This mimicry allows lead to bind with and disrupt the function of vital proteins and molecules in the body. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), large amounts of lead can cause brain damage, behavior problems, headaches, hearing loss, hyperactivity, developmental delays, other physical and mental problems, and even death.

Lead poisoning is one of the most common environmental child health problems in the United States. One in six of the children affected with lead poisoning are under the age of six. Currently, approximately 310,000 children age 1-5 years in the United States have blood-lead levels greater than the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) recommended level of 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood.

How Your Child May be Exposed to Lead
The good news is that lead poisoning is preventable. The home is where most children are contaminated with lead. Older homes and buildings pose the greatest risk of lead exposure from lead paint and lead-containing plumping pipes. Because the federal government banned lead-based paint in 1978, those homes built after 1978 are less likely to have lead paint. However, homes built before 1960 may contain lead paint with a concentration of up to 50% lead by weight.

Lead can be found in paint and dust from old, chipping and peeling paint or flaking paint. Your child does not have to chew on a window painted with lead paint or eat chips of lead paint to be exposed to lead. Lead dust is released from chipping and peeling paint during some home renovation projects, and lead dust particles can be created by the friction caused by doors, porch floors and window sashes. Lead dust can also be found in and come from soil and airborne emissions from incinerators and other industries. Children may be exposed to lead dust if their parents are exposed to lead at work and bring home lead dust on their clothing. Lead dust may settle on children's toys which often end up in their mouths.

Older homes and buildings may have lead-containing plumping pipes and service lines. The EPA estimates that 20% of Americans are exposed to lead through their drinking water. Among other things, lead is also found in imported ceramics, stained glass, fishing sinkers, and some cosmetics.

Why and When to Test for Lead Poisoning and What the Test Results Mean
Even low levels of lead in a child's body are dangerous. Lead may harm a child's brain, stomach and kidneys. It can cause learning and behavior problems and slow development. A child may or may not show symptoms of lead poisoning, which include headaches, poor appetite, trouble sleeping and crankiness.

Since a blood test is the only way to know if your child has lead poisoning, the CDC recommends testing all children at 12 months of age and, if necessary, again at 24 months of age. The test is a simple blood test that a doctor or lab may perform. If you live in a home that was built before 1978, because of the risk of exposure to lead paint, you should consider testing your child for blood lead levels when your child is 6 months old. Some states require more frequent testing than others.

Optimally, the results of a blood lead level test on your child should show that he or she has less than 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood concentration (a maximum level recommended by the CDC). If your child has 10-19 micrograms per deciliter of blood it means that he or she has mild lead poisoning. In such a case, your child should be re-tested in a few months (or as may be recommended by your child's pediatrician). If your child's blood lead test results indicate a level between 20-44 micrograms per deciliter of blood it means that your child has a moderate case of lead poisoning. The child may need chelation therapy, a process where a child is administered a drug that binds the lead and reduces acute toxicity. Your doctor can provide further information and advice, including information about the side effects of chelation therapy. If your child's blood lead test results indicate levels between 45 and 69 micrograms per deciliter of blood, this indicates severe lead poisoning is present. The child needs medical treatment. If your child's blood lead level is greater than 70 micrograms per deciliter of blood, you child will almost certainly be hospitalized.

If your child does have elevated lead level check with your state to find out what programs are available to treat children.

How You Can Reduce Your Child's Exposure to Lead
If your child's blood levels indicate any degree of lead poisoning then your child is being exposed to lead, likely in the home, but possibly from another source such as your child's daycare provider or the soil in which your child often plays. When lead poisoning of any level is indicated, remediation and removal of the source of lead is necessary. Even if no lead poisoning is indicated, you should take preventive measures to ensure that your child is not exposed to lead in the future. The following are some basic preventive measures that you may take:

1. If you live in a home that was built prior to 1978, have all surfaces in the home that have been painted tested for the presence of lead (including the exterior paint). You can hire a professional to do this, or you can purchase a do-it-yourself test kit.

2. If you live in a rented unit, there are often state regulations requiring that the owner of the unit ensure that lead paint is removed or contained when children under a certain age live in the unit. You should inquire as to whether this has been done by either contacting your landlord or having the paint in your unit tested by a professional or through the use of a do-it-yourself test kit.

3. If lead paint is present in your home, have it removed (note that there are regulations regarding the removal of lead paint since removal of lead paint will result in airborne lead dust and/or necessary disposal of the removed lead paint). Alternatively, if the lead paint is on your walls or other similar surfaces you can contain it by painting over the lead paint, thereby decreasing the risk of exposure. If lead paint is found on windows, remediation and removal of the paint may be necessary because the constant friction of the window sash being moved up and down may increase exposure to lead dust.

4. Keep children away from peeling or chipping paint and chewable surfaces painted with lead-based paints, including windows, window sills and wells.

5. Frequently clean lead-painted surfaces using water and a tri-sodium phosphate detergent found in hardware stores or automatic dishwashing soap. Dry sweeping may simply scatter the lead dust, so wet cleaning is the best way to remove it.

6. Use a HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaner to remove dust from your home. A regular vacuum cleaner may scatter dust. HEPA vacuums are available for rental or purchase. You can contact the Lead Coalition at 800 370-5323 for more information on HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaners.

7. Wash your children's hands and faces before they eat and wash toys and pacifiers frequently.

8. Since more lead is absorbed on an empty stomach make sure your child eats nutritious meals. Additionally, calcium and iron assist in the absorption of lead, so make sure your children get plenty of iron and calcium in their diet. Iron is found in foods such as liver, fortified cereal, cooked beans, spinach and raisins. Calcium is found is found in foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese and cooked greens.

9. Have the soil around your home tested for lead. This may be particularly pertinent if you live in a home that was built prior to 1978, as the exterior paint on your home may be or have been lead-based and particles or dust from that paint may have found its way into the soil surrounding your home. Even if your home was built subsequent to 1978, you may want to have the soil around your home tested because it is uncertain whether fill was brought in from another location to your property or if there are smelters in the area. If the soil around your home is likely to contain lead, you can help reduce exposure to airborne lead particles by planting grass or ground cover on the soil. You also can plant bushes around your home's foundation to help deter your child's exposure to lead-based exterior paint.

10. Have your tap water tested for the presence of lead. If you obtain your water from a public water system you can obtain a report on contaminant levels in your water. All public drinking water facilities are required to test for lead in the water at levels above 15 parts per billion twice each year. If more than 10% of tap water samples exceed the action level of 15 parts per billion, public water systems must take steps to reduce the lead content of the water. Even if the lead levels in your public water system are within the required standards, if you live in an older home, lead may leach into the drinking water from lead-containing pipes. Therefore, you should also have the water at your tap tested. If you obtain your water from a private well, you should also have the water tested for the presence of lead. For more information on how to get your water tested lead contamination you can call 1-800-426-4791, which is the number for the EPA's Water Protection hotline.

You can reduce exposure to lead in drinking water by "flushing" the water in your pipes prior to use, which involves letting the water run for a period of time until it reaches its coldest temperature (which indicates that the water that has been standing in the pipes has been flushed out). You should also use only fully-flushed cold water for cooking and drinking (warm or hot water is more likely to cause leaching of lead from lead-containing pipes).

11. Do not store or serve food in pottery that is meant for decorative use, as the pottery may contain lead. Do not store or serve food or beverages on lead crystal or china.

12. If a family member works in an industry where lead is present, then prior to entering the home, remove lead-contaminated shoes and clothes in a safe area where children are not present.

Federal, state and local regulations governing the lead content of paint, gasoline, beverage cans, industrial emissions, drinking water, consumer goods, hazardous sites and other sources, have resulted in a drastic reduction in lead exposure among young over the last three decades. It is the EPA's goal to eliminate lead poisoning as a major childhood illness by 2010. We can all do our part in helping to achieve this goal by decreasing our children's exposure to this potentially lethal metal.

Information used in this article was found at the following sources, which you can visit if you want to find out more about this topic:

www.leadsafenj.org/generalinfo/index.html
("Lead Based Paint, Are You Safe?")

http://www.epa.gov/lead
("Lead in Paint, Dust and Soil")

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/lppw2005.htm
(National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 23-29, 2005)