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Is Your Home a Danger?
Facts About Lead Poisoning
By the National Center for Environmental Health
Lead provides no known biological benefit to humans. Lead can produce adverse effects on virtually every system in the body; it can damage the kidneys, the nervous system, the reproductive system, and cause high blood pressure. It is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children.
There may be no lower threshold for some of the adverse effects of lead in children. In addition, the harm that lead causes to children increases as their blood lead levels increase.
Blood lead levels (BLLs) as low as 10 micrograms/deciliter (ug/dL) are associated with harmful effects on children's learning and behavior. We should try to prevent the occurrence of blood lead levels of 10 ug/dL and above in children. Very high blood lead levels cause devastating health consequences including seizures, coma and death.
Children with venous blood lead levels of 20 ug/dL or above or with venous BLLs in the range of 15 to 19 ug/dL over a period of at least three months need a doctor's care.
Elevated BLLs in children are a major preventable health problem that affects children's mental and physical health. The higher a child's BLL and the longer it persists, the greater the chance that the child will be affected. Elevated blood lead levels can result in:
- Learning disabilities;
- Behavioral problems;
- Mental retardation;
- At extremely high levels (70 ug/dL or higher), seizures, coma and even death.
Significant progress has been made in the United States in reducing overall rates of childhood lead exposure through comprehensive prevention strategies, including: