Protect Your Child Today
– By Charlotte County Health Department –
Like many other health hazards lead is invisible, but it is everywhere. A heavy metal that accumulates in the body, lead typically victimizes young children. Between 2005 and 2009, there were 1,531 reported new cases of childhood lead poisoning. Because lead-based threats are common yet often ignored, the Florida Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (HHLPPP) of the Florida Department of Health (DOH) is committed to minimizing childhood exposure to lead hazards in households.
Dr. Carina Blackmore, DOH State Public Health Veterinarian and State Environmental Epidemiologist, harps on the importance of lead poisoning prevention and awareness, saying “the effects of childhood lead poisoning are severe and irreversible, so parents should learn about potential hazards now. National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is the perfect time to start protecting the children of Florida from these unnoticed but very real threats to their health.”
Individuals are generally exposed to lead in one of two ways: ingestion and inhalation. Ingestion doesn’t refer to literally eating lead-based materials, but rather usually occurs through hand-to-mouth contact. This, as any parent with curious kids can imagine, is the most common pathway of exposure for children, while the inhalation of lead particles is the most common for adults. Poor nutrition puts both children and adults at higher risk for lead poisoning, as it facilitates the body’s absorption of harmful lead particles.
Children under the age of six are considered to be at heightened risk because of certain behaviors, such as the aforementioned frequent hand-to-mouth contact. By putting their hands or other objects into their mouths, they are more likely to absorb high percentages of lead. Furthermore, their developmental stage makes their bodies more vulnerable to lead’s effects. Lead exposure in children can cause learning disabilities, mental retardation, impaired visual and motor functioning, stunted growth, behavioral problems, neurological and organ damage, and hearing loss.
Individuals from all social and economic levels can be affected by lead poisoning, but children at the greatest risk are those 9 months of age to 2.5 years of age and those living at or below the poverty line in older housing. While numerous sources contribute to lead poisoning, a common source of exposure is household dust contaminated with dust from lead-based paint.
Many homes built before 1978 were painted with lead-based paint. Homes built prior to 1950, of which there are still approximately 433,564 in Florida, pose the greatest risk. Paint at the time had higher percentages of lead, and the structural condition of these aging homes often facilitates exposure. Thus, the HHLPPP recommends that children living in older neighborhoods get blood lead tests at ages one and two.
Other significant sources include some pottery, imported home remedies, candy, make-up, jewelry, toys, mini-blinds, and take-home-lead. “Take-home lead” is lead dust carried home on the clothes and/or shoes of individuals whose hobbies or occupations involve lead. Home renovation and repair are two common work activities that can result in take-home lead exposure.
To combat the issue, the Florida HHLPPP conducts statewide surveillance of blood screening, disease investigation and case management guidance, funding for three-high-risk counties and implementation of the Florida Healthy Homes Consortium. HHLPPP is working to eliminate lead hazards and poisoning one step at a time. The HHLPPP can assist communities in building local partnerships by increasing awareness, providing technical assistance and educational materials in Spanish, English and Creole.
DOH encourages Floridians to take strides in preventing lead poisoning by doing simple things to protect their families:
- Get your home tested. Before you buy an older home, ask for a lead inspection.
- Get your child tested. Even if your young children seem healthy, ask your doctor to test them for lead.
- Make sure your child does not chew on anything covered with lead paint such as painted windowsills, cribs or playpens.
- Keep areas where children play as dust-free and clean as possible. Wet mop floors and wipe window ledges and surfaces such as cribs.
- Wash your child’s hands frequently especially after playing outdoors and before meals and bedtime. Wash pacifiers and bottles after they fall on the floor.
- Don’t remove lead paint yourself. Hire a person with special training to correct the problem.
- If you work with lead in your job or a hobby, change your clothes before you go home and wash them separately from your family’s clothing and wipe your feet well before going inside your home.
The good news is that lead poisoning is completely preventable—and it starts with you. Research shows that lead may have harmful effects even at very low levels, so preventing even low level exposure by controlling all lead sources in a household is the key to ensuring a safe environment for children. The consequences of lead poisoning are both serious and permanent. Parents should take active steps to protect their children today.
For more information about lead poisoning and HHLPPP, visit the Florida DOH website at:
www.myfloridaeh.com/medicine/lead/index.html.