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Home › Articles › Toddler Health › What You Need to Know About Lead Poisoning

What You Need to Know About Lead Poisoning

Don't Take It Lightly

By Dr. Aneema Van Groenou

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  

Are there other sources for lead? Yes. Less common sources include fishing weights or sinkers, toy soldiers, lead solder in electronics, lead-containing artists' paints or ceramic glazes, car or boat parts and lead batteries.

Toddlers are at greatest risk for lead exposure because they live close to the ground where lead-laden dust accumulates and they explore the world with their mouths.

What Are the Symptoms?
The EPA estimates that 9,150 children are expected to have an IQ score below 70 as a result of their exposure to lead in the United States. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1990, persistent lead toxicity was linked to impaired academic success, including a "seven-fold increase in failure to graduate from high school, lower class standing, greater absenteeism, impairment of reading skills sufficiently extensive to be labeled reading disability (indicated by scores two grades below the expected scores), and deficits in vocabulary, fine motor skills, reaction time and hand-eye coordination."

On an individual basis, however, discovering the effects of lead poisoning is often very difficult because the symptoms are subtle and non-specific, meaning they could be caused by many other factors as well. Often, the profound affects are only discovered after extensive testing by a neuro-psychologist. If you suspect that your child may have lead exposure, look for the following symptoms:

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