Lead poisoning: What everyone needs to know

Follow me at @drClaire The lead poisoning of thousands of children in Flint, Michigan is tragic — and should never have happened. If we are going to make sure that nothing like it happens again, all of us, especially parents, need to learn about lead poisoning. Lead is a chemical that used to be commonly found in paint, gasoline, and factory emissions. It also was used to make pipes, as well as the solder that holds them together. But once the toxicity of lead was fully understood, there were laws and regulations put in place to limit its use, and to limit the exposure of children and pregnant women to lead. The problem is, there’s still a whole lot of lead out there, especially in older, poorer communities. The reason we really don’t want children and pregnant women to be exposed to lead is that it can affect the developing brain. Exposure to lead can lead to a lower IQ, as well as learning and behavior problems that can last a lifetime. Slowly and silently, it can change a child’s life forever. That’s what’s so hard about lead: it can be invisible, and do its damage without being noticed. If children eat something with a lot of lead — like a bunch of lead paint chips — and therefore have a high level of lead in their blood, they may have noticeable symptoms such as headache, constipation, vomiting, or confusion. But those kinds of exposures are (thankfully) uncommon. The more common kinds of exposure are from dust in houses with lead paint, from water contam...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children's Health Family Planning and Pregnancy Prevention Safety Source Type: news