Lead Poisoning Affects Thousands of Children and Adults

LEAD WARNING REQUIRED

Apartments and homes built prior to 1978 may have been painted with lead containing paints. If not properly taken care of, the lead from the paint, paint chips, and the dust can lead to lead poisoning and serious health complications, which may be irreversible once the damage has been done. It is federal law that any individual or family planning on renting, buying, or renovating an apartment or home built before 1978 must receive information regarding lead in paint. Leases have federal forms regarding lead-based paint and landlords are required to disclose information on lead-based paints that the renter could be affected by.

EPA Tips For Preventing Lead Poisoning

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises taking certain precautionary steps to protect your family from experiencing lead poisoning. For families who think there may be a high level of lead present the EPA suggests:

• Getting your children tested for lead poisoning, especially since symptoms of lead poisoning are not always visible, yet the effects can be very serious.
• Keep the home, and especially children's hands, toys, and bottles as clean as possible.
• Serving healthy, low-fat foods to your children since lead poisoning is affected by food with high fat content.
• Keeping floors, windowsills, and other home surfaces clean, as well as wiping off the dust and soil from shoes before entering to prevent any more lead from entering your home.
• Getting your home checked for any lead hazards to prevent future problems of lead poisoning from occurring.
• In instances of remodeling or renovating, take precaution by having a professional remove any lead-based paint and avoiding the use of belt-sanders, propane torches, dry scrapers, or dry sandpaper on paint that contains lead.
• If you notice surfaces with peeling or chipping paint, request your landlord fixes these problems.

Lead Poisoning News FEBRUARY 2005 Study links elevated lead levels to violent crimes A U.S. researcher is arguing that the lead left in paint, water, soil and other sources may be having a greater impact on people's behavior than realized. Elevated lead levels are known to affect children's intelligence, but it might also be leading to antisocial and criminal behavior, according to Dr. Herbert Needleman. The professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said the U.S. government needs to do more to reduce lead levels in the environment. Read More.. Click Here For Lead Poisoning News In Your Area!

Legal Rights Children suffer from lead poisoning the most, absorbing up to 50% of the lead they ingest. Children have been exposed to lead due to the failure to properly handle or dispose of lead containing material. Exposure can occur form air emissions and soil contaminated by lead related industries, and from lead cointaning paint and dust in the home. Contact a Lead Poisoning Lawyer

Dangers Lead poisoning affects children under the age of six the most because they still have developing brains and nervous systems and lead interfere with this development. Read More on the dangers of lead poisoning

Effects Unless the amount of lead poisoning is extremely high, symptoms of lead poisoning, initially, are not apparent making the number of undiagnosed cases of lead poisoning high. Read more on the effects of lead poisoning

Because lead is not able to dissolve in water or biodegrade, dissipate, decay, or burn, this makes lead an extremely harmful hazard. An estimated 10 million metric tons of the lead residue is in the environment. Read More . . .

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