Lead poisoning is affecting children on a massive and previously unknown scale, according to a new report launched by UNICEF and Pure Earth. The report, the first of its kind, says that around 1 in 3 children – up to 800 million globally – have blood lead levels at or above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), the level at which requires action.
Lead poisoning numbers
Childhood lead exposure is estimated to cost lower- and middle-income countries almost USD 1 trillion due to lost economic potential of these children over their lifetime. In 2016, lead exposure accounted for 63.2% of the global burden of idiopathic developmental intellectual disability. In 2017, lead exposure accounted for 1.06 million deaths and 24.4 million years of healthy life lost worldwide due to long-term health effects.
Blood Lead Level
This test is used to screen people at risk for lead poisoning. This may include industrial workers and children who live in urban areas. The test is also used to diagnose lead poisoning when a person has symptoms of the condition. It is also used to measure how well treatment for lead poisoning is working.
Lead in the body is measured with both blood and bone levels. Blood lead levels are more reflective of acute exposure, whereas bone lead levels better reflect cumulative exposure over time.
No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects. Small amounts of lead in adults are not thought to be harmful. However, even low levels of lead can be dangerous to infants and children.
Normal results in adults are Less than 10 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) in the blood. Normal results in children are less than 5 µg/dL in the blood. Numerous studies indicate that blood lead concentrations above 10 µg /dL are associated with adverse outcomes on measures of intellectual functioning and social-behavioral conduct.
Blood lead level in children of 5 µg/dL or greater requires further testing and monitoring. The source of lead must be found and removed. Treatment may be considered with a level as low as 20 µg/dL.
Sources and Routes of Exposure
More than three-quarters of global lead consumption is for the manufacture of lead-acid batteries for motor vehicles. Recycling of lead-acid batteries is a leading contributor to lead poisoning in children living in low and middle-income countries, which have experienced a three-fold increase in the number of vehicles since 2000. The increase in vehicle ownership, combined with the lack of vehicle battery recycling regulation and infrastructure, has resulted in up to 50 percent of lead-acid batteries being unsafely recycled in the informal economy.
High levels of lead have, for example, been reported in certain types of kohl, as well as in some traditional medicines used in countries such as India, Mexico, and Viet Nam.
Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning because they absorb 4–5 times as much ingested lead as adults from a given source. Moreover, children’s innate curiosity and their age-appropriate hand-to-mouth behavior result in their mouthing and swallowing lead-containing or lead-coated objects, such as contaminated soil or dust and flakes from decaying lead-containing paint. This route of exposure is magnified in children with a psychological disorder called pica (persistent and compulsive cravings to eat non-food items), who may, for example, pick away at, and eat, leaded paint from walls, door frames, and furniture.
Important sources of environmental contamination include mining, smelting, manufacturing and recycling activities, and, in some countries, the continued use of leaded paint, leaded gasoline, and leaded aviation fuel.
Drinking water delivered through lead pipes or pipes joined with lead solder may contain lead. Much of the lead in global commerce is now obtained from recycling. Other sources include: imported candy and candy wrappers, imported toys and toy jewelry, imported cosmetics, pottery and ceramics, drinking water contaminated by lead leaching from lead pipes, solder, brass fixtures, or valves and consumer products, including tea kettles.
Occupational Lead Exposure
People can become exposed to lead through occupational and environmental sources. This mainly results from inhalation of lead particles generated by burning materials containing lead, for example, during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint, and using leaded gasoline or leaded aviation fuel; and ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes), and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).
Workers in dangerous and often illegal recycling operations break open battery cases, spill acid and lead dust in the soil, and smelt the recovered lead in crude, open-air furnaces that emit toxic fumes poisoning the surrounding community.
Families can also be exposed when adults bring scrap or waste material home from work. Occupational lead exposure continues to be a source of both acute and chronic exposure, resulting in blood levels of 40 to 120 μg/dL.
Prenatal Exposure
Parents whose occupations involve working with lead often bring contaminated dust home on their clothes, hair, hands, and shoes, thus inadvertently exposing their children to the toxic element.
Prenatal exposure presents an additional risk for lead neurotoxicity. Maternal exposure to lead and overall maternal body burden of lead is closely associated with lead levels in the fetus, likely because lead appears to cross the placenta freely and because pregnancy increases systemic demand for calcium, resulting in higher bone turnover and consequent lead release into the bloodstream. Lead in bone is released into the blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing fetus.
Symptoms
With few early symptoms, lead silently wreaks havoc on children’s health and development, with possibly fatal consequences.
Initially, lead poisoning can be hard to detect — even people who seem healthy can have high blood levels of lead. Signs and symptoms usually don't appear until dangerous amounts have accumulated.
Lead poisoning symptoms in children include: developmental delay, learning difficulties, irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, sluggishness and fatigue, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, hearing loss, seizures, eating things, such as paint chips, that aren't food (pica).
Lead poisoning symptoms in newborns babies exposed to lead before birth might include: be born prematurely, have lower birth weight, and have slowed growth.
Lead poisoning symptoms in adults might include: high blood pressure, joint and muscle pain, difficulties with memory or concentration, headache, abdominal pain, mood disorders, reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm, miscarriage, stillbirth, or premature birth in pregnant women.
Lead is a Neurotoxin
Lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children. Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney, and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time. Lead also interferes with neurotransmitter release, especially during the neonatal period.
Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health, including damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems.
Neurotoxicity may result in cognitive changes, memory disorders, and changes in mood or onset of psychiatric disturbances. In chronic exposure, neurodegeneration and psychiatric manifestations are more prevalent.
Psychiatric manifestations may include increased depression, anxiety, and irritability.
Lead exposure has been found to increase the risk of numerous conditions that may have adverse effects on nervous system function, including hypertension, impaired renal function, impaired thyroid function, vitamin D deficiency, and preterm birth.
Lead Poisoning Prevention Tips
Childhood lead poisoning is 100% preventable. The key is to keep children from coming into contact with lead. Lead hazards in a child’s environment must be identified and controlled or removed safely. Lead is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell.
Washing your hands often can help prevent lead poisoning. Shower and change your clothes and shoes after working around lead-based products. Make sure your children do not put their mouths on painted surfaces, such as toys or window sills. Cover paint that is peeling or chipping with duct tape until it can be repaired or removed. Ask your doctor about screening your young children for lead. Children may have lead poisoning even when they appear healthy.
Necklaces, bracelets, watches, as well as religious jewelry from other countries, may contain lead. Keys may have small amounts of lead in them – do not let babies play with or teethe on keys.
Occasionally older pipes in your home may gradually leech lead into your tap water. If you are concerned about your tap water, run the faucet for a few minutes before using cold water for cooking, drinking or preparing infant formula (this can help flush out the lead which can build up in sitting water), especially if the cold water hasn't been used in the past two hours.
Avoid Asian folk remedies, spices, and cosmetics including kohl. A healthy diet can protect children from lead poisoning. Give children four to six small low-fat meals during the day. When children eat the right foods, their bodies absorb less lead. Children with empty stomachs absorb more lead than children with full stomachs. Foods rich in Iron, Calcium, and Vitamin C can help protect children from lead poisoning.
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