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It’s a toxic element that can cause serious health effects in humans and animals. Lead is especially dangerous to babies and young children. If you decide to use a lead test kit to test your paint, follow the directions on the package very carefully.
They may eat from dishes or drink from cups contaminated with lead. If you work in an environment with lead paint or are working on a home remodel, you could be exposed to lead dust. The amount of lead found in a child's blood is called a blood lead level. The blood lead level will tell if your child has been exposed to lead in the last month.
Analyzing Painted Surfaces with a Lead Paint Test Kit
Research has also shown that calcium found in dairy products and dark green vegetables can make it harder for lead to accumulate in bones. This is mainly because both lead and calcium are competing for the same spaces in bone tissues. Katherine has had several years of experience developing and executing multichannel marketing campaigns, but actually started her career path in journalism. Though she switched gears, she continues to be driven by the need to deliver information that can be helpful for individuals.
Pick up an instant lead water testing kit to conduct a test yourself. These kits are available at most major hardware stores and home improvement centers. Send a water sample to a testing agency yourself for faster results.
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Lead exposure is more likely in certain homes and environments than in others. This includes older buildings that may have used lead paint or poorer communities that may not have replaced outdated lead water pipes. Certain industries also place employees at an increased risk of lead exposure. For persons with lower levels of lead in the body, removing the contaminant may be enough to reduce blood lead levels. Finding out about lead in your water is only one part of the solution. Lead enters our bodies from many common contaminated sources other than drinking water, such as dust, soil and air.
While you can treat lead poisoning, prevention is the best precaution to protect your family and yourself. The most important step in protecting children and other vulnerable individuals from lead poisoning is prevention. Of course while you wait for test results on your home plumbing, you’ll want to protect yourself and your family from any potential lead in your drinking water. When the test comes back, you can find information on how to read the results on NSF. If the answer is no, you could still have lead exposure from the plumbing inside your home. Because lead is odorless and has no taste, the only way you will know if you have lead in your home’s tap water is to have it tested.
Treating higher levels
It can damage your child’s nervous system, brain and other organs. Lead poisoning can also lead to severe health, learning and behavioral problems, including sudden brain damage and long-term intellectual deficits. The table below shows hazard levels of lead in paint, soil and dust, as determined by the California Department of Public Health . Department of Housing & Urban Development may have different hazard level definitions.
Don’t remove paint with an open flame torch because this can also create small lead particles that you could ingest. Tells you if your home has lead-based paint and where it is located. It will not tell you whether your home currently has lead hazards or how to deal with it. This is most helpful when buying a home or signing a lease, before renovating.
They can get iron from lean meats and seafood, nuts, and fortified grain products. There is some evidence that intravenous administration of the medication may be more effective at removing lead than oral preparations. In some adults, your doctor may suggest treatment with three different drugs, which are commonly called ethylene diaminete traacetic acid, or EDTA.
If your child’s blood lead levels are very high, your child’s healthcare provider may treat them with a medication called a chelating agent. This medicine binds the lead in your child’s blood and makes it easier for their body to get rid of it. But you can reduce blood lead levels and prevent further exposure by finding and removing the sources of lead from your child’s home or environment. Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health. No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to negatively affect a child’s intelligence, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement.
This is especially important for fertile and pregnant females. The CDC also recommends initial and follow-up screening of pregnant and lactating women, as well as for neonates and infants of women with BLLs ≥5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 36,713 times.
The EPA recommends that only certified professionals use these kits. The professional can also perform a risk assessment, which alerts you to any hazards or problem areas with the lead in your home. However, NIOSH recommends that the most current guidelines for management of lead exposed adults be implemented by the medical community at the current CDC/NIOSH reference BLL of 5 µg/dL .
It is especially important to test these areas if there is bare soil or if paint is peeling or chipping. Children enrolled in Medicaid are required to get tested for lead at ages 12 and 24 months, or age 24–72 months if they have no record of ever being tested. For children not enrolled in Medicaid, CDC recommends focusing testing efforts on high-risk neighborhoods and children. If your child's blood lead level is very high, your doctor will treat your child with medicine to lower the amount of lead in the blood. The first step in treating lead poisoning is to remove the source of the contamination. If you can't remove lead from your environment, you might be able to reduce the likelihood that it will cause problems.
Lead is a metal that occurs naturally in the earth's crust, but human activity — mining, burning fossil fuels and manufacturing — has caused it to become more widespread. Lead was also once used in paint and gasoline and is still used in batteries, solder, pipes, pottery, roofing materials and some cosmetics. Consider hiring a State-certified lead Inspector/Assessor to inspect your home for lead. For a list of State-certified Inspector/Assessors, go to the State-certified Inspector/Assessor page on this site.
CDC is committed to helping address this threat and improving health outcomes for our nation’s most vulnerable citizens—our children. Unfortunately, the effects of lead poisoning cannot be reversed but early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent further damage. Even so, because most cases of lead poisoning don't show any symptoms at all, a physical exam might not be enough to spot it.
Give your child healthy foods, high in calcium, iron and vitamin C, and low in fat. Remember to wash your child's hands often, especially before meals and after playing outside. For adults, symptoms may include headaches, joint pain, metallic taste, muscle weakness, digestion problems, change in personality, loss of concentration, and memory problems. Chelation therapy may remove lead to the point where it is less likely to cause harm, but it may not remove it completely. Common side effects include fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, rash, vision changes, and blood in the urine.
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