Lead Poisoning In Children

The lead in the environment is formed naturally in the earth’s crust mainly as Lead Sulphide. The main exposure channels of lead entering the environment through atmospheric lead is predominantly from automobile emissions. Other lead exposure routes include lead-acid batteries, paint chips, fertilizers, utilized ammunition, pesticides, and other industrial byproducts. The means of conveying lead from key emission sources is mainly through the air. Concerning the sources of lead in drinking water, normally lead reaches into the residents’ water after it is channeled from their water treatment plant or the wells. To be more precise, the source of lead in people’s water supply largely emanates from their households’ pipes or lead solder from plumbing. The most typical cause of the lead formation is from the corrosion reaction by the lead pipes or solders and the water. The acidity as a result of the low pH, dissolved oxygen, and little mineral contents in the water are main reasons of the corrosion. The lead amounts in the water become high if the water spends a long duration of time stagnated inside the old pipes.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says that lead exposure in children may cause comas, seizures, and death. Because a child’s brain is still developing, the damage of lead exposure is more severe. Not only does lead affect the way the brain physically develops, but lasting neurological and behavioral damage includes lower IQ scores, higher risk of attention deficit disorders and hearing impairments, decreases in impulse control, and potentially violent behavior. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who runs the pediatric medical residency program at Flint’s Hurley Medical Center, studied blood lead level tests and found that the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels had gone from 2.4 percent to 4.9 percent citywide (Barry-Jester). Hanna-Attisha’s findings showed a rise to sixteen percent in neighborhoods where lead levels were known to be elevated in the water. She points out, "Lead only last in body a short time … and when you screen them, it's no longer elevated. So we've missed children's peak lead levels and that's why everyone says it

(Campbell, 2016). Two giants in childhood lead poisoning research and advocacy, Dr. Philip Landrigan and Dr. David Bellinger, summarize the adverse effects of lead very completely, yet succinctly: “Lead is a devastating poison. It damages children’s brains, erodes intelligence, diminishes creativity and the ability to weigh consequences and make good decisions, impairs language skills, shortens attention span, and predisposes to hyperactive and aggressive behavior. Lead exposure in early childhood is linked to later increased risk for dyslexia and school failure.”(p. 3).

Similarly, in the article, The Need for Vigilance: the Persistence of Lead Poisoning in Children published in Pediatrics, a peer-review journal, the authors write the article with the intent of reiterating the need for medical professionals to remain vigilant with the accurate treatment of lead poisoning. The article in Pediatrics is written by doctors for clinical professionals and is based upon a report of "a case of lead poisoning associated with ingestion of a toy necklace in a 4-year-old child" (Florin, T., Brent, R., &

Potential lead contamination from drinking water presents a significant health risk. Recent examples of this lead contamination include Flint, Michigan, a city that experienced a large increase in the number of people, especially children, who exhibited symptoms of lead poisoning. A March 9, 2016 article in the Washington Post reported data from the Environmental Protection Agency that indicated approximately 350 schools and day-care centers across the US failed lead tests approximately 470 times between 2012 and 2015. Seven years ago, according to the Post, a study concluded that hundreds of young children in Washington, DC, had potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood due to contamination in the city’s tap water. The toxin can cause permanent developmental and behavioral issues.

Imagine you're drinking a cup of water and every single drop is poison. This could be happening to you. 50% of the United States have lead in their drinking water. This is because of lead based pipes. Lead based pipes have been leaching lead into water which connects to drinking water. It can also be because of the state's water utilities that might have lead in their water. ( EPA's safe drinking water information system database reports, three, 2016 by Isabella DC, USA Today) says Lead can cause brain damage, cancer, seizures, hearing loss, learning disabilities, and more!

The major sources of lead here were gasoline, paint chips and water from old plumbing. After lead was removed from gasoline and paint, blood lead levels (BLL) in children decreased on average from 16 mcg/dL to less than 3 mcg/dL. Residual lead persists in the environment, however. A toxic level is currently defined as 5 mcg/dL. In U.S. children age 1-5, the prevalence of BLLs >10 mcg/dL decreased from 88% to 4.4% between 1976 and 1994 and further dropped to 0.8% by 2010. Yet there are still almost half a million children in the U.S. with levels >5

Everyone is susceptible to the dangers of lead contamination; but children are especially at risk. High levels of lead in children can lead to brain and kidney damage and damage to red blood cells. Low levels of lead can also cause problems that are less life-threatening but can be just as devastating, like low IQ, hearing and language impairment, reduced attention span and poor school performance. In adults, exposure to lead can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure. Pregnant women and their fetuses are extremely vulnerable to lead. In women, lead increases the risk of infertility and miscarriages; in fetuses, lead can cause low birth weight, premature birth and impaired mental and physical development.

children are exposed to high amounts of lead dust from old painted surfaces and furnaces

There are multiple reasons to expect that a person's lead exposure as a child could affect

The water in Flint is placing people in peril because the water is accumulating with lead. Lead is a type of chemical element in the carbon group. Lead is a soft and heavy post - transition metal. If lead accumulates in your body you could sustain death or lead poisoning. Lead poisoning occurs when lead builds up in the body often over a period of months or years. Even small amounts of lead can cause perpetual health problem. Children under the age of six are vulnerable to lead poisoning and possibility death.

According to the Mayo clinic, lead poisoning is most susceptible to children under the age of six. Early estimates indicate that as many as 8,000 children could have been given the drinking water. High levels of lead according to the Clinic’s report “can severely affect mental and physical development… [and] lead poisoning can be fatal.”

Lead poisoning in children was first discovered in 1890 in Queensland, Australia. The lead source was not identified until 1904, when a researcher traced it to the paint used on railings and verandahs. The first discovery of lead poisoning in the United States (with a traceable source) was in 1914; the child had chewed the paint off of his crib. At this time they linked lead poisoning as a cause of convulsions in children. As research progressed and more children were found with high lead levels, symptoms caused by lead were expanded to include lead meningitis, acute encephalopathy, intellectual dullness, reduced consciousness, seizures, comas, and death (Chisholm, 1982).

In the united states, Lead poisoning seems to be one of the most common and preventable environmental problem in children. When compared to the US borne children, Prevelance of this poisoing is 1.6%high in refugee kids.(2)

* Lead. Lead is hazardous to health as it accumulates in the body and affects the central nervous system. Children and pregnant women are most at risk.