Lead Poisoning is More Common than People are Aware

Lead Poisoning

Many people are aware of the dangers of lead poisoning. There have also been many measures taken to reduce the amount of exposure in toys and other products, but there still may not be enough change taking place to help save the lives of the people being affected.

The Center of Disease Control showed that 6 percent of all children from the ages of 1-5 years-old have blood lead levels in the toxic range. Because children have developing bodies and nervous systems they can be particularly sensitive to lead, although lead can affect anyone at any age. The Center of Disease Control has recently found that there is now no safe blood level for children.

The disturbing news is that Congress recently cut federal funding to prevention programs for lead poisoning. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention programs are no longer able to function to help implement initiatives for safety. Hopefully the growing awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning will stay fresh in people’s minds and that companies will work harder to take initiatives to keep all lead out of their products.

Lead can be found in a great deal of products. House dust, old paint and soil, toys and other products have all been traced to have some lead in them. Although much of the lead has been cut out of products it is not all completely eliminated.

Early identification and treatment of lead poisoning help reduce some of the risk of permanent damage. Some of the symptoms and effects that can be seen from lead poisoning are inattentiveness, hyperactive, irritableness, delayed growth and hearing loss, and brain damage.

For more information on lead poisoning and what you can do to make sure you and your family are living aware from sources visit http://www.cdc.gov/.