Lead Poisoning

Lead poisoning can affect almost any organ of the body and can lead to a range of cognitive deficits.

MR. STEVEN P. KNOWLTON: Lead is a metallic element that’s found naturally in the environment that is neurotoxic, which means it affects the nervous system and brain. Lead can also affect other organs like the kidney and the liver and in certain cases, with the inhalation of lead dust, the lungs. Lead poisoning generally occurs over a long period of time with a slow deposition of lead from many different sources. It’s especially dangerous in young children, those aged from birth to 7 years, as those are the critical developmental years. Lead poisoning can lead to cognition defects, developmental delays in very young children, speech delays, reading delays and diseases such as ADHD and ADD. There’s a general misconception about which population and which types of children and individuals are at risk for lead poisoning. Most folks believe that only inner-city children in deteriorating neighborhoods where there was a large deposition of lead, either because of industrial uses or lead paint, are really at risk. That’s not true. Lead poisoning reaches across every socioeconomic level. If your child lives in a home that was built before 1975, chances are that at some point in that home’s history, there was lead paint used. So lead can reach across all levels. It can reach across all ages. Certain types of professions in which lead and lead products are used, their exposure can lead to lead poisoning. If parents have questions about their child’s level, you can simply ask your child’s pediatrician to have your child tested. It’s a simple blood test. Parents should understand that if their child is lead poisoned or comes back with a high lead level, it’s not the parents fault. Lead is ubiquitous in our environment and had been used for many, many years in gasoline and many years in paint. The important thing is to have the child examined by a physician, properly evaluated and treated. There are many good treatments for children with high lead levels today.