Lead is highly toxic, especially to young children. It can harm a child’s brain, kidneys, bone marrow, and other body systems. At high levels, lead can cause coma, convulsions, and death. The National Academy of Sciences has reported that comparatively low levels of lead exposure are harmful. Levels as low as 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (µg/dL) in infants, children, and pregnant women are associated with impaired cognitive function, behavior difficulties, fetal organ development, and other problems.In addition, low levels of lead in children’s blood can cause reduced intelligence, impaired hearing and reduced stature. Lead toxicity has been well-established, with evidence of harmful effects found in children whose blood lead levels exceed 10 µg/dL. Lead poisoning is a completely preventable disease. Residential lead paint hazards in homes of children can be virtually eliminated in 10 years. Every child deserves to grow up in a home free of lead paint hazards.
No single definition of "lead poisoning" suits all purposes. From a public health perspective, the key questions are:
In this report, the term "lead poisoning" is used to describe blood lead levels of 10 µg/dL or above in children under six.
Lead Paint In Housing - Particularly Low-Income Housing
The most current national survey shows that nearly 1 million children are lead poisoned. A large body of evidence shows that the most common source of lead exposure for children today is lead paint in older housing and the contaminated dust and soil it generates. Poisoning from lead paint has affected millions of children since this problem was first recognized more than 100 years ago and it persists today despite a 1978 ban on the use of lead in new paint. Although all children living in older housing (where lead paint is most prevalent) are at risk, low-income and minority children are much more likely to be exposed to lead hazards. For example, 16% of low-income children living in older housing are poisoned, compared to 4.4% of all children. Therefore, eliminating lead paint hazards in older low income housing is essential if childhood lead poisoning is to be eradicated.
Other Sources Of Childhood Lead Poisoning
Lead exposure among young children has been dramatically reduced over the last two decades because of the phase-out of lead from gasoline, food and beverage cans, and new house paint, and because of reductions of lead in industrial emissions, drinking water, consumer goods, hazardous waste sites, and other sources. As a result of these past and ongoing efforts, children’s blood lead levels have declined over 80% since the mid-1970s. In 1978 there were about 14.8 million poisoned children in the United States. By the early 1990s, that number had declined to 890,000 children. The long-term vision of this strategy is to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in the United States.
Further Efforts Needed To Eliminate Lead Poisoning In Children
Despite progress, lead poisoning remains one of the top childhood environmental health problems today. Without further action, over the coming decades large numbers of young children may be exposed to lead in amounts that could impair their ability to learn and to reach their full potential. To help accelerate the progress in eliminating this disease, this report has been compiled to examine what needs to be done to make children’s housing lead-safe and to provide early intervention for children at highest risk. Specifically, it examines what actions need to be taken before children are poisoned. This report shows that the number of poisoned children can be greatly reduced over the next decade as a result of demolition, renovation, regulation, and increased federal subsidy and leveraged private funding. Additional efforts will continue to address exposures from other sources, such as lead in exterior soil and dust, drinking water, and air emissions.
This Strategy advances two goals:
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