More Detailed Facts... For Parents
Physician's office
Lead poisoning can effect every organ in the body. Its most feared effect on children, however, is the loss of potential intelligence and school-related problems. Years ago, children with lead poisoning were seen in hospitals with convulsions or in a coma. This is unusual today, thanks to the efforts by public health officials to decrease the number of cases and severity of lead poisoning.
The physician will want to know if you or your child has any of the following symptoms: headaches, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, weakness of muscles, irritability, sleep problems (either excessive sleepiness or inability to sleep), hyperactivity, high blood pressure or sexual dysfunction in adults.
It is very difficult to predict which child will have an elevated level of lead. A simple blood test will determine if you or your child has had too much lead in your body. This test is performed either from a pin prick or a needle placed into a vein. The test will have to be "sent out" by the physician to a laboratory. It is suggested that all children who live in areas with old housing or in which other children with lead poisoning have been be tested for lead roughly around their first birthday and then at about 3 years of age.
Blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms(mcg) per 100 ml (dl) of blood are considered to be elevated by the US Centers for Disease Control. Such levels represent potential threats. As the level increases, the chance that it will cause illness also increases. In most cases, a lead level of over 10 mcg/dl will prompt a physician to obtain other laboratory tests to determine if the lead is damaging the body. He will then suggest a diet (see grocery store) and "interim" environmental controls (see information under house/environment). Blood lead levels over 20 mcg/dl will prompt an environmental inspection to look for the sources of the lead. Levels greater than 25 mcg/dl may prompt the consideration of the use of medication (in the US the current medication, succimer, or Chemet, is licensed only for use in children with lead levels over 45 mcg/dl but many believe that it should be used at lower levels as well).
Grocery Store
Proper nutrition is always important. When an individual has lead poisoning, diet becomes part of the backbone of the treatment. Calcium is very important to growing bones. Diets low in calcium increase the absorption of lead. The best source of calcium is dairy products. Although too much milk is detrimental, the right amount of milk or milk product is very important. The average toddler should consume between 24 and 32 ounces of milk each day, either in the form of milk, itself, or as cheese or yogurt. There is some relationship between delayed weaning and lead poisoning. It is important to have a child weaned from the bottle by about age 14 months.
High fat content foods, such as fried foods, potato chips and other junk foods, luncheon meats and candy promote the absorption of lead into the body. It is important, therefore, to decrease the amount of fat in the diet. Foods rich in iron, such as red meat, chicken, fish, green leafy vegetables, tend to decrease the absorption of lead and should be emphasized. In fact, it is wise to consume such foods at least once but preferably twice a day. Lead may produce disturbances in salt balance, thus salt should be minimized.
It has been found that children with lead poisoning tend to eat less fruit and vegetables than those without. It is not clear if these findings are truly related. We do know that vitamin C tends to help protect against the damages of lead poisoning. Therefore, we recommend that fresh fruits and vegetables be eaten daily.
Lead poisoning is more common during the summer months. Since lead is removed from the body in urine, it is important that an individual urinates adequately each day. During the heat of the summer it is important to be sure that a lead-burdened person drink copious amounts of fluids. It is acceptable to drink plain tap water, juices, soda etc. It is not necessary to buy bottled water, tap water is actually subjected to more regulation than bottled water.
Home
A large percentage of lead poisoning occurs in the home. Houses built prior to 1950 are almost certainly contaminated with lead paint. Homes built since 1970 are probably not. It is important to know the age of your house/apartment and to know if it contains any lead paint. US government law states that a purchaser of a home or renter of an apartment must be informed if the house was or wasn't tested for lead.
Paint deteriorates at a slow but steady rate releasing its pigments into the air and becoming part of household dust. If the paint has lead pigment, the lead then becomes part of the dust, which settles on all objects in the house. When a child or pet then plays on the floor, he or she is playing in lead contaminated dust. When an individual then puts toys or even his hands in the mouth, lead is transferred into the body. This dust may become re-shuffled around the house by any movement. Dry mopping, dusting or the use of a standard vacuum cleaner only moves the dust around and suspends the lead dust in the air. This form of lead is even better absorbed than that which is ingested. We recommend dusting with wet cloths, wet mopping and the use of only Hepa-filtered vacuum cleaners. There is some advantage to using special anti-lead cleansing agents, such as tri-sodium phosphate or LeadDissolve, however, the most important thing is the use of water!
Peeling or chipping paint is an obvious danger to children and pets. "Interim" repairs will help protect such individuals, at least for the time being. You can cover large areas with either wallpaper or contact paper. The chips can be removed with a simple scraper. Power sanders are not recommended since they increase lead content in the air. A chair or sofa can be placed in front of repaired areas and decrease the likelihood that a small child would take the chance.
The particularly dangerous and often neglected area to watch out for is the window well, the space between the regular window and the storm window. The paint used here is generally exterior paint and had the highest content of lead of most readily available paints. Speaking about outdoors, it is possible to "track in" lead containing dust from outside. We suggest leaving your shoes at the door, thus preventing the spread of dust into the house.
Water resting in pipes overnight may "pick up" lead from the soldered joints in the pipes or from actual lead pipes that may still be used in your community. We suggest that cold water be run until it feels cold before drinking it. Hot water, since it is "stored' in the hot water heater and may become contaminated, should never be used for cooking or drinking.
Food can also become contaminated when food is stored in ceramic or metal containers. Those attractive ceramic pitchers, plates, cups represent a significant potential hazard. Food kept on a plate or juice/alcohol in a crystal decanter can become heavily contaminated. The level of contamination is determined by the length of time it stays in direct contact,
Many folk remedies, cosmetics, and herbal products are contaminated with lead. Before using any of these check the origins carefully. When in doubt, don't use them.
Renovations of homes represent a particular hazard. If the walls, ceilings or woodwork were painted with lead-based paint, any manipulation of them can generate lead dust and debris. It is important to be aware of the presence of lead and prepare for renovation in such a way as to minimize the risk for exposure.
Outdoors
For over a hundred years lead has been used outdoors. It has been use to paint the outsides of homes, coated metal structures such as bridges, water towers and other fences. Lead from automobile exhaust settled over grass and pavement. It is virtually impossible to go anywhere without lead being present in the environment.
Many childhood playgrounds and parks were built near major roadways or metal structures. As such, they were subjected to lead contamination for many years. It is important to know the quality of the parks your children play in. A handful of lead-contaminated dirt can contain enough lead to start the "ball rolling" toward lead poisoning.
Repairing of metal structures such as bridges, overpasses, water towers and fences have produced lead hazards in sandboxes when flakes of lead-based paint dropped into them.
Those tomatoes you plant will not be a problem. On the other hand, root vegetables such as carrots, beets, lettuce tend to absorb lead from the soil. Wash all picked fruit and vegetables well to remove all remnants of soil.
Pets
Pets get lead poisoning as well as people. Dogs seem to be willing to eat almost anything. If there is peeling or chipping paint on the floor, the dog may be likely to eat it. The animals may seem listless and pale or may have convulsive seizures. Birds have died from eating peeling paint off of antique birdcages. Zoo animals have been reported as developing lead poisoning from eating paint or dust from paint on metal bars and from fallout from automobile exhausts. If you live in an old house with peeling paint and your pet has been acting peculiarly, have your veterinarian test the pet for lead.
Miscellaneous
Lead sometimes finds itself in the strangest places. We just discovered lead tinsel in an antique store. This was solid lead and if eaten by the child, could have produced lead poisoning. Lead has been found in certain cosmetics. Surma, the Indian cosmetic, is often contaminated with lead. Lead contamination of wire insulation has lead to the development of lead poisoning in electricians. The white facial makeup used in traditional Chinese Opera is nearly pure lead pigment. There also are reports of lead poisoning from swallowing religious medals, lead curtain weights and fishing sinkers. Adults with retained metal fragments from bullet or shrapnel injuries have developed true lead poisoning.
