Beware of Lead Poisoning

Beware of Lead Poisoning

Lead is a highly toxic metal that can be found in many products and materials in our homes and businesses. The primary source of lead in the human environment is lead-based paint, but lead can also be found in the dust and soil where lead-based paints have peeled off or have been disturbed, as well as in some types of plumbing materials. Although Congress passed laws prohibiting the manufacture and use of lead-based paint in 1978, many buildings and homes built before this ban still contain significant amounts of lead-based paint.

In recent years governments have issued emergency recalls of such consumers products as toys and jewelry.Why? Dangerous levels of lead have been detected in some of these items, and young children tend to suck or chew on them. Lead poisoning can be especially dangerous for children under six years of age, since their central nervous system is still developing.

According to a study by the johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health,lead inhibits a protein that is important for brain development and cognition.Studies show that children absorb up to 50 percent of the lead ingested, whereas adults usually absorb only 10 to 15 percent.

Recent research has suggested that even levels of lead that fall under some governemnt-issued toxicity limits may cause harm.
The problems, according to the National Safety council in the United States, can include \learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth,impaired hearing and kidney damage| in children. Women who may become pregnant should take extra precautions to avoid exposure because lean can harm the fetus.
Take note that adults can also get lead poisoning resulting in nerve disorder,muscle and joint pain, or problems with memory and concentration.

Other Sources of Lead Poisoning
Although in recent yearsmost developed countries have phased out lead from gasoline, the World Health Organization WHO says that there are nearly 100 countries in the world that still use leaded gas.Lead does not break down or burn up. Thus, tiny particles from vehicles emissions contaminate thue soil along highways.Lead dust is then breathed in or tracked into homes.

Symptoms of Lead Poisoning

Common symptoms of lead poisoning in children are:

·

decreased appetite

·

stomach aches

·

sleeplessness

·

learning problems

·

constipation

·

vomiting

·

diarrhea

·

fatigue

·

lowered IQ

·

anemia.

Common symptoms of lead poisoning in adults are:

·

fatigue

·

depression

·

heart failure

·

abdominal pain

·

gout

·

kidney failure

·

high-blood pressure

·

wrist or foot weakness

·

reproductive problems

·

anemia.

If you live or work in a home or building constructed prior to 1978 or if you feel you may have been exposed to lead, you should have a simple blood test performed by a medical doctor. If it turns out that you have been exposed to lead, the main treatment for lead poisoning is to stop the exposure, but there are also medications available that will lower the lead levels in the blood.

Need for Public Awareness.
Lead poisoning can result from the accumulation of lead in the body over a period of time. But a one-time ingestion in sufficient amount can kill. The U.S. Centers fro Disease Control reports that in 2006 a preschooler died from the effects of swallowing a piece of metallic jewelry containing high level of lead.

Highlighting the need for public awareness, a medical encyclopedia states that at present, 1 in 20 preschooler in the United States has high levels of lead in his or her blood. if that is true of a country where the use of lead is regulated what might be said of lands where such regulations are nonexistent? Indeed everyone must beware!