By Sarah Cercone:
Recently Ryan Mooney brought attention to an incredibly important issue in his article “Lead is Holding Buffalo’s Future Hostage.” I agree with Mooney’s assertion that lead poisoning is often overlooked, and I believe it does not receive the prominent concern and advocacy it deserves, particularly when considering the devastating effects it has on children.
Buffalo is exceptional in many ways, none the least of which is the incredible architecture and the vast majority of homes built many decades ago. These older homes however, uniquely situate Buffalo for lead hazards and elevated lead levels, as lead-based paint is extremely common in older housing stock. In fact, approximately 85% of homes built before 1978 contain lead-based paint, which is the primary source of lead for children with lead poisoning, according to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH 2008). Lead paint deteriorates through normal wear and tear, such as the friction from opening and closing windows, and creates lead dust, which is stickier and adheres to surfaces more easily than regular household dust. Lead paint also chips, and those pieces can be very dangerous if a child eats them.
Lead dust is ingested by children because of normal hand-to-mouth behaviors, such as sucking on fingers or thumbs. They also ingest lead dust on toys and household surfaces as they play with those toys and touch those surfaces throughout the house. Further, there are important differences in children’s bodies that make them more susceptible to elevated lead levels than adults. Children’s developing digestive systems absorb up to 10 times as much lead as adults (CDC ATSDR 2010); so if an adult and a child swallowed the same amount of lead, the child’s body would absorb a much greater proportion of the lead than the adult’s body would. Also, children’s bodies don’t get rid of lead as well as adult’s bodies do: an adult body will excrete about 99% of lead within a few weeks of ingesting it, but a child’s body will only excrete about 32% in that same time period (CDC ATSDR 2007).
When children are exposed to and then ingest lead, it affects their developing bodies, particularly their brains, in many ways. Unlike the flu or other illnesses, there aren’t usually symptoms of elevated lead levels, so the only way to tell is with a blood test. According to New York State law, all children should be tested by their health care providers at age one and again at age two, and children in high-risk groups, like those living in poor housing conditions, should be tested more frequently (NYSDOH 2009).
So what are the effects of elevated lead levels on children? High levels of lead can slow a child’s physical and intellectual growth; cause a decrease in I.Q., vocabulary, and grammatical reasoning; lead to learning disabilities, irritability, attention deficit and/or hyperactivity; damage hearing and hand-eye coordination; inhibit reaction time; and cause kidney damage, among other issues (CDC ASTDR 2010, NYSDOH 2008). Often, these effects aren’t seen until years after the child has been exposed, and there is no way to reverse the damage.
Elevated lead levels are a critical issue threatening Buffalo and the future of our community. In 2008, 20.1 children for every 1,000 tested in Erie County had unnecessarily high lead levels, more than three times the state average (6.7 children for every 1,000 tested) (NYSDOH 2008). Between 2006 and 2008, Erie County had the third highest percent of new cases in New York State, and more than 80% of those cases were children under 6 years of age (NYSDOH 2008). There are many ways you can protect your children from elevated lead levels. Here are a few to get you started:
– Help your child wash his or her hands with warm, soapy water before they eat.
– Wash children’s toys in hot, soapy water at least once a week.
– Thoroughly clean: use a wet rag or mop to clean areas children play in, vacuum carpets frequently.
– Pay special attention to window sills: if you see paint chips in them, gather the chips up and throw them out. Then wipe down the window sills, walls, and floors around the window with a damp cloth. Don’t let your children play near windows with paint chips in them.
– Use cold water for drinking and cooking, and let the water run for a few minutes before using it. This can reduce the lead content in water from lead pipes.
– Home Repairs and Renovations: keep children away from those areas while work is occurring. Do-it-yourselfers and those who work on homes build before 1978 should learn about lead safe work practices, and if you’re hiring a contractor to work on a pre-1978 home, you should ask to see their EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) certification (for more information on lead safe work practices and EPA RRP certification, contact your local health department).
Together we can work towards lead-free homes for all children. For more information or to get involved, see our Resources page at www.wchob.org/lead.
About the author:
Sarah Cercone is the Program Coordinator for the Buffalo Office of the Western New York Lead Poisoning Prevention Resource Center which is funded by the New York State Department of Health and is located at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. We are committed to the prevention, early detection, and effective management of lead poisoning in children and pregnant women, and provide educational programs and medical consultation to the 8 counties of Western New York.