Parents should be concerned about protecting their children from exposure to lead. “The reason for concern is there is no good level of lead in the body,” says Robert J. Geller, medical director of Georgia’s Poison Center.
Children’s Toys and Lead Paint
Most often, the lead danger present in toys comes from their paint. Ironically, although lead-based paint was banned from residential use by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) in 1978, many children’s toys, particularly those made in China, are found to contain levels of lead in excess of that allowed.
Lead in paint resists moisture, increases durability, speeds drying, and allows the pain to retain a fresh appearance, factors which presumably account for its persisted use despite its known toxicity. Parents can help keep their children safe by regularly checking recall lists to see if their households have any hazardous toys. A comprehensive, month-by-month list is available through CPSC’s Product Safety and Recall News.
Symptoms of Lead Poisoning in Children
Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead poisoning, which involves the accumulation of lead in their bodies over time. Although mere contact with items containing lead does not in itself pose a threat, when children put toys with lead paint in their mouths (which young children are apt to do), lead lodges in their developing nervous systems, poisoning tissues and enzymes. And even a small amount of lead is enough to cause harm in young children.
Frighteningly, signs and symptoms of lead poisoning are often non-specific (they could be attributed to any number of typical childhood ailments) and are not apparent until lead levels have reached dangerous proportions. Symptoms of lead poisoning in children include weight loss, sluggishness, abdominal cramps, vomiting, loss of appetite, paleness, and constipation. Eventually, lead poisoning can lead to learning difficulties and even lowered intelligence.
Children younger than six are even more vulnerable. Attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth, hearing loss, kidney damage, and learning disabilities can result from even very low levels of exposure; high levels of exposure can cause mental retardation, comas, and even death.
Lead Dust
About the author of this article:
scott smith is an expert on indoor air quality and air purifiers at achooallergy.com.
