Lead is a highly toxic substance, exposure to which can produce a wide range of adverse health effects. Both adults and children suffer from the effects of lead poisoning, but childhood lead poisoning is much more frequent. Over the many years since we have known about the hazards of lead, tens of millions of children have suffered its health effects. As of 2004, there was, at minimum, more than four hundred thousand children under the age of six with elevated blood lead levels. Lead has a sweet taste to it, if a child puts his or her mouth on a windowsill where lead base paint is present, he or she will be exposed to the hidden dangers of lead --- that’s how the majority of lead poisoning occurs. Furthermore, friction surfaces where lead base paint is present creates a highly potential means of lead poisoning, lead is released into the air falls to the ground and ingested by children.
By far the biggest source of concern is lead base paint found in much of our nation's older housing. Until 1978, lead base paint was commonly used on the interiors and exteriors of our homes. Today, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), estimates that about 38 million homes in the US still contain hazardous levels of lead base paint. While lead base paint in intact condition does not pose an immediate concern, lead base paint that is allowed to deteriorate creates a hazard. It can contaminate household dust as well as bare soil around the house, where children play. In either situation, a child who comes into contact with lead-contaminated dust or soil is easily poisoned. All it takes is hand-to-mouth activity, which is perfectly normal for young children. With the lead dust equivalent to a single grain of salt, a child can have an elevated blood lead level. According to HUD, about 25% of the nation's housing—24 million homes—contains significant lead-based paint hazards, i.e. deteriorating lead based paint or lead-contaminated dust. These are the homes producing the vast majority of the childhood lead poisoning cases we see today.
Lead can harm virtually every system in the human body. Lead is particularly harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of fetuses and young children. In many cases there are no visible symptoms of elevated blood-lead levels or lead poisoning. Young children under the age of six are especially vulnerable to lead's harmful health effects, because their brains and central nervous system are still being formed. For them, even very low levels of lead exposure can result in reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth, impaired hearing, and kidney damage. At high levels of exposure, a child may become mentally retarded, fall into a coma, and even die from lead poisoning. Within the last ten years, children have died from lead poisoning in New Hampshire and in Alabama. Lead poisoning has also been associated with juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior. In adults, lead can increase blood pressure and cause fertility problems, nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, irritability, and memory or concentration problems. Children with elevated blood levels (EBLs) exhibit dramatic changes in their energy, at first exhibiting hyperactivity, then severe fatigue. Children over 13 year of age and adults with elevated blood lead levels will have the majority of lead out of their systems within six months, but with a child is takes much longer… the damage could be permanent. For a child to be declared with an elevated blood lead level he or she must have equal to or greater than ten micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. If the physician determines and elevated blood lead level, he or she is mandated by California Law to report the case to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. The Department of Health Services will inspect the home and property to determine the presence of lead, upon confirming the presence of hazardous levels of lead base paint the Department of Health Services will mandate the property owner to remediate the lead hazards. Los Angeles County Department of Health Services will provide a list of certified lead contractors to include Southland Energy Systems for remediation of lead hazards.
The only way to be sure is with a quick and easy blood test. Every child should be tested at 6 months old and after that as recommended by your physician. Your private physician or your local health department can test for blood-lead levels. Many private insurance policies cover the cost of testing for blood-lead levels. Children covered by Medicaid are eligible for free screening. The cost of a blood-lead test generally ranges from $10 to $75. If you don't have a doctor, the Department of Health can help you. Just call 212-BAN-LEAD.
Exposure to lead is estimated by measuring levels of lead in the blood (in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has set a “level of concern” for children at 10 micrograms per deciliter. At this level, it is generally accepted that adverse health effects begin to set in. However, recent research published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides new evidence that there could be very harmful effects occurring at even lower levels of exposure, as low as 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. In other words, science is now telling us that there is in fact no level of lead exposure that can be considered safe.
Pregnancy itself can cause lead to be released from the bone, where lead is stored–often for decades–after it first enters the blood stream. Once the lead is released from the mother's bones, it re–enters the blood stream and can be passed to the fetus. In other words, if a woman had been exposed to enough lead as a child for some of the lead to have been stored in her bones, the pregnancy can trigger the release of that lead and can cause the fetus to be exposed. In such cases, the baby is born with an elevated blood level. To ensure that they do not have excessive lead exposure during pregnancy, pregnant women should not:
No, there is not. The main treatment for lead poisoning is to stop the exposure. Removing the lead from a person's environment helps to ensure a decline in blood lead levels. The longer a person is exposed to lead, the greater the likelihood that damage to the person's health will result. In some cases, medications are used to lower blood lead levels.
