Lead Poisoning

A Preventable Health Problem

For information about Hartford's lead problem, click here.

What is lead poisoning?

Lead is a poison that affects nearly every system of the body. No amount of lead in the body is safe. Lead poisoning is a major environmental health issue today. Lead poisoning is also preventable. Strategies include:

• Preventing lead poisoning at the source (eliminating lead hazards in the home, the environment, and the workplace)
• Screening
• Medical treatment

What does lead do to children?

Lead can cause permanent damage to children-especially unborn children, infants, toddlers, and children under six years old. It can damage the brain and other parts of the nervous system and can cause long-term behavior and learning problems. Children are generally at greater risk than adults because they are more sensitive to lead's damaging effects and because they put objects in their mouths. If these objects contain lead or have lead dust on them, the lead will poison the children and may stay in their bodies.

The effects of lead depend upon the level of lead in the blood. For example, in children, very high levels can cause coma, convulsions, and even (rarely) death. Moderate levels, too, can harm the brain and nervous system, kidneys, and liver. Even very low levels, which do not cause any obvious symptoms, are associated with decreased intelligence, behavioral problems, decreased growth, and impaired hearing.

The problems that lead causes remain long after childhood. In comparison with children who have not been exposed to excessive levels of lead, children who have been exposed are much more likely to have

• Reading difficulties
• Poor vocabulary
• Attention problems
• Poor coordination
• More school absences
• Lower class ranking
• Greater chance of dropping out of high school

What does lead do to adults?

Lead can also damage adults. It can cause

• Reproductive problems
• High blood pressure
• Digestive disorders
• Nervous system problems
• Difficulty with memory and concentration
• Muscle and joint pain

Who is most affected by lead poisoning?

According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, 2500 children with blood lead levels of concern and 600 children with elevated blood lead levels were identified in 1998. Although lead poisoning can and does affect people of all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses, children in low-income families and families of color who live in urban areas or older housing are at greatest risk. Nationwide, African-American children are five times more likely be to lead poisoned than white children. Children from poor families are eight times more likely to be poisoned than are those from higher-income families. In Connecticut, most children hospitalized for lead poisoning are between the ages of one and two, non-Hispanic, black, and poor. On average, patients stayed in the hospital for almost six days, at an average cost per stay of $6,055.

Children Hospitalized for Lead Poisoning in Connecticut 1996

By 1999, the number of children hospitalized for lead poisoning had dropped to 8.