Lead levels in children show a sharp drop

Chicago, March 1: A serious clean-up by the state and federal authorities to tackle lead poisoning in children seems to have paid off. The latest government research reveals a sharp drop in the lead levels in kids as opposed to 20 years ago.

High lead levels can cause irreparable health problems. Lead enters a child’s bloodstream after being ingested from disintegrated paint, chips and lead in the soil. Once in the bloodstream the lead travels to the brain, soft tissue and bones.

Children who have poor diets and lack sufficient calcium and iron are hard hit. It causes learning disabilities and impairs hearing. Children who have elevated blood lead levels often experience reduced attention spans, hyperactivity and behavioral problems. It can damage a child’s kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, coma, convulsions and even death.

The study was based on a health survey comprising of nearly 5,000 children, aged 1 to 5 years. According to the latest data available, 1.4 percent children had elevated lead levels in their blood in 2004 compared with almost 9 percent in 1988.

In the 1970s, efforts began, to remove lead from gasoline, paint, water and soil. There was 84 percent drop in the lead of all U.S. children after it was eliminated from these major sources.

"It has been a remarkable decline," said study co-author Mary Jean Brown of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "It's a public health success story."

An acceptable blood-lead level is10 µg/dL, though the authors of the study declare there is no safe level. According to research, levels less than that can cause problems including attention and reading difficulties.

Caroline Cox, research director of the Center for Environmental Health, a California-based advocacy group stated that lead poisoning "is entirely preventable."

She added, "There's no reason even one child in the United States should be poisoned by lead. It's great there aren't as many now as there were, but there are still too many."

By the year 2004 the levels of lead among white, black and Mexican-American children was within the range of 10 micrograms with no racial differences. Unfortunately, the disparities at lower levels persisted with almost 18 percent of white children having less than 1 microgram per deciliter in comparison with 11 percent of Mexican-Americans and 4 percent of blacks.

Lead poisoning is concentrated among children in low-income families. These poorer families are often condemned to live in crumbling housing in polluted neighborhoods.

The CDC advises regular washing of hands and toys, cleanliness of floors and window sills and advocates usage of cold water which has lower levels of lead as compared to hot water.

The study is being released in the March edition of the journal Pediatrics.