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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

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  • Avoid imported candies and sodas, which may contain lead, and beware that some home remedies (such as azarcon, greta, pay-loo-ah) and cosmetics (such as kohl, alkohl) may contain lead.
  • When remodeling, keep children far from the disturbed area, preferably in another house until all areas have been painted and thoroughly cleaned. If you have a hobby that involves lead paints, stained glass or soldering, shower and change clothes before having contact with your children to minimize their exposure.
  • Good nutrition also helps prevent the effects of lead exposure. Foods high in iron and calcium, like lean meat, eggs, raisins, greens, milk, cheese, fruit and potatoes, can help get lead out of a child's system. Limit foods high in fat and oil – fried foods and snacks like potato chips – which can keep lead in a child's system.

Getting educated about lead, having a dialogue with your pediatrician, and contacting the Health Department for an inspection should be your first steps if you suspect your child is being exposed to lead. When we found our daughter was exposed, we were frantic to prevent ongoing exposure. The Health Department testing visit was very educational and also showed us where we needed to focus our efforts for cleaning.

We found preventing the scary consequences of lead poisoning was in our hands. After getting our daughter away from the construction site, testing our home, cleaning thoroughly and putting away metal toys and ceramics that may have been compounding her exposure, we felt like we had taken control of the problem. And when our daughter's second blood lead level a month later returned normal, we breathed a (dust-free) sigh of relief.

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