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What to Know About Lead Poisoning in Children
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What to Know About Lead Poisoning in Children
One of the most important jobs of a parent is keeping children safe. We can prepare for a few no-brainers, like placing baby gates in front of stairways, preparing food to prevent choking, and ensuring smoke detectors are in working order. However, lead poisoning is a lesser-known threat that can have irreversible negative health impacts on children, so prevention strategies and regular screenings are important.
Know the Risk Factors
The highest risk for lead poisoning occurs in the summer. Kids spend more time outside, play in the dirt, and ingest water that could contain lead. Home renovations can also cause lead dust to end up in the air a child is breathing.
Keep your child safe from lead poisoning by being aware of potential risk factors like:
- Living in a home that was built before 1978 and used lead-based paint
- Drinking water that runs through lead-soldered old pipes
- Playing in dirt that contains lead
- Having a caregiver who works a job that involves lead, such as construction, auto repair, plumbing, painting, and battery manufacturing
- Breathing in lead dust during home repairs
- Having Pica, a disorder where someone eats non-food items
Children younger than age six have a particularly high risk of developing lead poisoning because:
- They are more likely to put toys or fingers in their mouths after touching something contaminated with lead
- Their bodies absorb more lead than an adult’s body
- Critical development occurs at that age
Just because the risk of lead poisoning increases in the summer doesn’t mean you must hold your child back from enjoying the season.
“The idea of lead poisoning can be scary,” says Alanna Brickley, MD, a pediatrician at University of Utah Health. “Given the overall low risk, particularly if you know about risk factors and prevention strategies, this information should not hold you back from enjoying your summer.”
The Importance of Screening
According to the Lead Coalition of Utah, children should be tested for lead poisoning via a blood test at ages one and two and up to age six if they’ve never been tested. However, testing is only mandatory for children enrolled in Medicaid or those who have immigrated or been adopted from another country.
Blood tests can measure the amount of lead in a child’s blood, which is critical because most children do not show any signs of lead poisoning until levels are extremely high.
Symptoms of lead poisoning include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Unexplained weight loss
- Seizures
“Having a positive lead level is never anyone’s fault,” Brickley explains. “It’s possible to get a false positive, so step number one is to not panic and coordinate with your pediatrician to have an official blood draw to confirm it.”
If your child’s blood test detects any amount of lead, it’s important that you take immediate action to identify and remove the source of lead poisoning.
Children with lead poisoning are at risk for irreversible issues, such as:
- Learning and developmental delays
- Behavioral problems
- Damage to the nervous system
- Issues with hearing and speech
If you’re concerned that your child has been exposed to lead, speak with their pediatrician.
Prevention is Key
Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. Taking the following steps can ensure you have a lead-free home:
- If you live in a house that was built before 1978, have a certified risk assessor or inspector come to your home to check for lead-based paint or other sources. The National Lead Information Center (NLIC) can help you address any concerns about lead in your home.
- Wash your hands and your child’s hands before eating, especially after playing outside.
- If you work in an industry that carries the risk of lead exposure, shower and put on clean clothes before touching your child.
- Remove paint chips that have fallen.
- Remove any products known to contain lead, such as lead-glazed pottery, certain cosmetics, and some imported toys and jewelry.
- Ventilate your home during any renovations and properly clean your home after work is completed.
- Serve your child foods that are high in calcium, iron, and vitamin C, as these can reduce the amount of lead absorbed by your body.
“There is no level where effects from lead are considered reversible, so we really focus on prevention and screening,” Brickley says. “Hand washing before eating and after playing outside are going to keep that risk lower. The bigger risks are really with summer construction projects and bringing lead dust into the air in an older home.”
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