LEAD

Who is Affected By Lead

Lead paint is serious business. Lead inspection and lead risk assessment are helpful first steps that can lead to more thoughtful decisions on managing lead paint and lead hazards. Lead abatement is an activity designed to eliminate lead-based paint hazards permanently. Abatement is sometimes ordered by a state or local government and can involve specialized techniques not typical of most residential contractors.

Health Effects

Lead can be found in all parts of our environment – the air, the soil, the water, and even inside our homes. Much of our exposure comes from human activities, including the use of fossil fuels, including past use of leaded gasoline, some types of industrial facilities, and one-time use of lead-based paint in homes. Lead and lead compounds have been used in a wide variety of products found in and around our homes, including paint, ceramics, pipes and plumbing materials, solders, gasoline, batteries, ammunition, and cosmetics.

Lead may enter the environment from these past and current uses. Lead can also be emitted from industrial sources and contaminated sites, such as former lead smelters. While natural levels of lead in soil range between 50 and 400 parts per million, mining, smelting, and refining activities have substantially increased lead levels in the environment, especially near mining and smelting sites.

Federal and state regulatory standards have helped reduce the amount of lead in air, drinking water, soil, consumer products, food, and occupational settings.

Children

Lead is hazardous to children because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do, and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Babies and young children can also be more highly exposed to lead because they often put their hands and other objects that can have lead from dust or soil on them into their mouths. Children may also be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that have lead, inhaling lead dust from lead-based paint or lead-contaminated soil, or from playing with toys with lead paint.

Pregnant Women

Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time, where it is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy, lead is released from bones as maternal calcium and is used to help form the fetus's bones. This is particularly true if a woman does not have enough dietary calcium. Lead can also cross the placental barrier exposing the fetus the lead. This can result in severe effects to the mother and her developing fetus, including: