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What is lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning is the presence of too much lead in the body. The body has no use for lead at all. Exposure to even low levels of lead adds up over time; more and more lead gets absorbed in the body. In general, the more lead, the more harm is done.
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What is the harm of having lead in your body?
Lead poisoning affects people’s minds and bodies. Children and unborn babies are especially at risk from lead poisoning, since their bodies and nervous systems are still growing. Very high levels of lead can cause seizures, severe brain damage resulting in mental retardation, coma, and even death. Such extreme cases are now rare because of earlier detection and intervention. Lower levels can cause stomach pains and anemia. Long-term exposure to lead, even at relatively low levels, has been found to be associated with decreased hearing, lower intelligence, hyperactivity, attention deficits, and problems in school.
Lead poisoning can reduce children’s intelligence. Studies show that children with even low levels of lead in their blood have lower IQs than similar children without lead. Lead also harms children’s physical growth. Lead-poisoned children have reduced hand strength, and they are less coordinated and slower to react than children who are not poisoned.
Children who are lead poisoned are more likely to have behavior and discipline problems. They are more likely to drop out of school. Several studies, including one conducted by the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark and funded by the National Institutes of Health, have shown that lead poisoning is a direct cause of aggressive behavior in humans.
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Where does lead go in the body?
Lead enters the blood and circulates throughout the body. The brain, bones, kidneys, and other organs absorb lead from the bloodstream. Children absorb lead more easily than adults.
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Can lead poisoning be cured?
Some of the effects of lead poisoning cannot be cured. But once you find out that you or your child has lead poisoning, you can take steps to remove the lead and prevent future poisoning. This handbook describes some things you can do.
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I feel fine, and my kids don’t seem sick either. So I don’t have to worry about lead, right?
Wrong. Lead poisoning may not show up like a rash or a sore throat. You can have lead in your body and not know it. Lead can hurt you without making you feel or look sick.
When symptoms do appear, they often are similar to common childhood complaints such as headaches, irritability, tiredness, lack of appetite, weight loss, vomiting, constipation, and stomachaches. Other symptoms are poor attention span, poor memory, and sleep problems. Because many other things can cause these same problems, parents and doctors may not think of lead poisoning.
But in children, once symptoms caused by lead poisoning appear, brain damage may already have occurred.
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What about adults?
Adults with lead poisoning may have the same symptoms as children. Headaches, abdominal pain, numbness or tingling in fingers or toes, and memory loss may also be symptoms of lead poisoning in adults. Fertility problems and miscarriages are more likely to occur.
The Mayo Clinic has reported that high levels of lead in adults may lead to high blood pressure, digestive problems, nerve disorders, and muscle and joint pain, as well as damage to sperm-producing organs in adult men. Recent studies have found that high levels of lead stored in men’s bones many years earlier are linked to higher rates of cataracts and mental decline in older men.
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I’m pregnant. Do I need to worry about being exposed?
Yes. Lead in your blood goes through the placenta to the developing child. Lead stored in your bones also can harm your developing child. And unborn babies exposed to lead are often born with smaller birth weights and prematurely. The harmful effects of lead during pregnancy have been found in babies even a year after they were born.
In March 2005, New Jersey started a program to help prevent lead poisoning by providing low- and moderate-income families and pregnant women with free kits to test their homes (whether owned or rented) for lead-contaminated dust. The program is called Wipe Out Lead NJ. You are eligible for the free test kit if your home is 25 years old or older and anywhere in New Jersey. If you are receiving prenatal care through a health center, an OB-GYN in a private office, or a hospital clinic, ask for one of these test kits if you have not already been given one. Otherwise, you can call 1-856-665-6000 to order a free kit from the Family Health Initiatives, a project of the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Consortium.
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How many people in New Jersey really get lead poisoning?
Too many. In 2003, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) reported that there were more than 5,200 children identified with elevated blood lead levels. However, less than one-third of all one- and two-year-olds in the state are screened each year. Although there are children in every county in New Jersey with elevated blood test results, children living in New Jersey’s cities are affected the most.
Adults are also affected and need to take steps against being lead poisoned.
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