KANSAS
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT
BILL GRAVES, GOVERNOR
Gary R. Mitchell, Secretary

November 9, 1998

Contact: Don Brown, 785-296-1529

Lead Poisoning Prevention Month Targets Kansas Kids

Governor Bill Graves has proclaimed November as Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Month, and health officials hope to safeguard thousands of Kansas children from this common, preventable disease. Lead poisoning can accumulate for months and years in a child's body, causing problems that range from reduced mental ability, hyperactivity, and behavioral problems to severe retardation and even death.

"It's vital that people prevent lead poisoning in the vulnerable years of six months to six years. Lead ingested during that period can cause life-long problems," said Gary R. Mitchell, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). "Although this is one of the most common childhood illnesses, it is also one of the most preventable."

A Hand-to-mouth Route

Lead usually gets into a child's bloodstream by being ingested. Although children sometimes eat pieces of lead paint, which has a sweet taste, usually the lead comes from the dust in and around the home or from dust in the air. This dust can come from lead-based painted surfaces that get a lot of wear and tear, like windows doors, stairs, railings and banisters, or from other peeling painted surfaces. The dust settles on the hands or toys of children as they play. Then, as children commonly do, they put their hands and their toys in their mouths, and they swallow the dust or soil.

Although lead paint for homes has been banned since 1978, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates over 80 percent of housing built before 1980 has some lead-based paint.

Lead poisoning is not easy to detect. The only way to know if lead poisoning has occurred is to get a blood test. Sometimes no symptoms occur, or the symptoms are the same as those of more common illnesses. Symptoms can include irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, difficulty sleeping, constipation, reduced attention span, or persistent tiredness or hyperactivity. Children with high lead levels may suffer seizures, unconsciousness and in some cases, death.

Your children are at risk if they:

• Live in or regularly visit a house built before 1950. This includes a day care center, preschool, babysitter's, or relative's home.
• Live in or regularly visit a house built before 1978 with recent or ongoing renovation or remodeling, or that has chipped or peeling paint.
• Have a sibling, housemate or playmate who has or did have lead poisoning.
• Live with an adult whose job or hobby involves exposure to lead, such as battery plant worker, stained glass hobby, etc.
• Live near an active lead smelter, battery recycling plant, or other industry likely to release lead.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that blood lead testing be part of standard pediatric check-ups, with all children tested by 12 months of age and high-risk children tested at six months.

Steps to Protect Children

• Wash toys, pacifiers, and other things children put in their mouths.
• Wash children's hands often, especially after playing outside and before eating and going to bed.
• Do not use hot tap water for drinking, cooking or formula preparation.
• Once a week, clean floors, window sills and other surfaces with an all purpose detergent and water to reduce the dust that comes in contact with children and their toys.
• Clean or remove shoes before entering your home to avoid tracking in lead from soil.

• Make sure paint is intact and in good condition.

• Clean up dust and seal lead paint in place where possible. Replace lead-painted window sills and moldings. Do not dry sand, power wash, or sandblast to remove the paint; dry scraping can leave paint behind, and sanding puts lead dust into the air to be inhaled. Do not use high-temperature heat guns or open flames on lead-based paint.
• Paint should be wet down by misting with water, then removed and placed in plastic bags. Wash floors, walls, and furniture with high quality detergent thoroughly after scraping, and dispose of the sponge or rag you used for cleaning. Do not vacuum paint chips with a standard home vacuum cleaner -- this shreds them and distributes them into the air.
• Cover the floor and close off the area and keep all non-workers out of the area.
• Wear protective clothing and shoes and use a respirator with a HEPA filter.
• After the work is completed:
• Wrap debris with plastic and close it up well.
• Vacuum exposed areas with a HEPA vacuum.
• Wash exposed areas with an all purpose detergent.
• Cover lead-painted walls and ceilings with plaster, wallboard, wallpaper, paneling, or lead-free paint. Install vinyl siding over lead paint outdoors. These keep paint from chipping and falling into places where children live and play.
• The plastic on some imported miniblinds deteriorates when exposed to sunlight, heat, or low temperatures. This causes lead dust to form on the blinds' surface, which children can touch. People with children are urged to discard vinyl miniblinds purchased before July 31, 1996. After discarding the blinds, wash the window frame with an all purpose detergent and dispose of the wash rag or sponge.
• Provide toddlers with a sand box that has a bottom and clean sand. Wash children's hands often, particularly before they eat.
• Plant bushes around lead-painted buildings to discourage children from playing where paint chips accumulate and to control the spread of lead paint chips and dust.
• Lead or lead-soldered pipes can put lead in your water. Water softeners on cold water lines, brass faucets and fixtures, and lead solder on copper plumbing can add lead to the water supply. Storing drinking water in pottery or leaded crystal containers or pewter can also present a lead hazard. Avoid serving food on ceramic ware or pottery made outside the United States.
• If you work with lead, shower and change clothes and shoes before leaving work. Don't involve your children in hobbies that involve a lot of lead such as stained glass and ceramics production and ammunition reloading.
• Urban gardens may have lead in the soil, so even attempts at "organic gardening" might result in leaded food. Remove all dirt from produce by washing or peeling. Vegetables that are rich in iron may contain more lead. Don't let your child play in your garden.
• Provide pacifiers or other chew toys so children will not eat paint.
• Feed your family a healthy diet. High-fat diets consisting of animal fat, ice cream, butter, and fried foods increase the amount of lead that is absorbed. A diet that is high in calcium and iron will help prevent absorption of lead that is ingested.

Source: KDHE Lead Poisoning Prevention Program