Lead Poison is a Concern for Your Childs Health

Where Does Lead Poison Come From?

Lead poisoning is one of the most serious health threats for children in and around the home.

If your children get lead in their bodies, they can be poisoned. Lead may cause learning and behavior problems, damage hearing, and damage the nervous system, including the brain. Lead was used in paint, water pipes, gasoline, pottery, and other places. Even though this metal is not used as much anymore, it remains where it was used.

The paint on your walls and windowsills may contain lead. Household dust (from old, worn paint) may also contain lead. Your drinking water may contain lead from your pipes or the solder that joins pipes together. Even the soil outside your home may contain lead. Determining if your home has lead is essential.

How Can Lead Poison Your Child?

Children can unknowingly ingest lead-based paint dust by putting their hands or objects in their mouths. Even small paint particles can create lead dust on windows, doors, and walls. Crawling on the floor, putting toys in their mouths, or playing in soil can also lead to lead poisoning. A blood test is the only way to determine if a child has been exposed to lead. It is important to ask a doctor or healthcare provider to test for lead. While intact lead paint is not an immediate concern, it may pose a risk in the future.

Many older homes have lead-based paint or lead water pipes. Homes built before 1950 will likely have lead in paint and water pipes. Cracking, chipping, or flaking paint in your home can release dust with lead. Rubbing paint on surfaces like door or window frames can also create lead dust. Water pipes made with lead or joined with lead solder can contaminate the water with lead. Remodeling or renovation projects may leave behind lead dust or paint chips. Lead in the soil outside the home can come from paint or industry, posing a risk if children play in it or if it is tracked inside.

• Does someone you live with work where lead is used? Some jobs that might create lead dust are construction, bridge building, sandblasting, shipbuilding, plumbing, battery making and recycling, car repair, furniture refinishing, and foundry casting. Workers can bring lead dust home on clothing, skin, or shoes.
• Do you have children under six without a blood test for lead? Young children should be tested for lead. This is especially true if you live in an older home, if your home has recently been remodeled, or if a brother, sister, or playmate has tested high for lead. Ask your doctor to test your children beginning at six months of age and then every year until age six.

Have neighbor children or playmates ever had a high blood lead test?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your children may be at risk for lead poisoning. Look at the Action Steps on the next page to learn how to protect your children’s health!

Find Out if Your Home Has High Levels of Lead?

• You may need to have your home or water tested. Your local or state health department can tell you how to do this for little or no cost. Many hardware stores also sell low-cost lead testing kits.
• Don’t try to remove lead on your own. Trained and certified workers should do it. Getting rid of lead in the wrong way can make the problem worse! Children and pregnant women need to stay away during a lead
removal project.CDC

We can test your home or business to determine if high levels of lead are present and which source they are.