Video: Lead poisoning in children

Lead poisoning can be devastating and even deadly for children, but it is preventable. 

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental health risk for children today. 

In this country, more than three million children ages 6 and under already have toxic levels of lead in their bodies. That’s one out of six. 

So where is the lead coming from? Your water or even a dinner plate may be to blame.

Will Weaver is almost 3 years old and like most toddlers, he loves his toys.

Many of Will’s toys were handed down from his big sister. And because they’ve accumulated quite a few over the years, Will’s mom worries about the possibility that some contain lead.

“With everything that’s been imported and exported, it’s kinda scary and all the recalls,” Yvette Weaver said. “It makes me wonder with my second child how many things my first child has been exposed to.”

Lead exposure is serious business.

Fact: the type that most often affects children is chronic lead poisoning. That’s when small amounts of lead are taken in over time.

“It can cause anemia, vague stomach distress, it can cause renal failure and it can cause drops in a child’s IQ and a slowing of their development,” said Ann Slattery with Children’s Hospital poison control.

Lead is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell. And most children with elevated lead levels show no symptoms. Because of this, Yvette Weaver is having her home tested by a company out of Atlanta.

“I’m hoping that my house is lead free,” Weaver said.

But Jeremy Weir with Exposing Lead says he hasn’t come across a lead-free home yet, and as it turns out the Weaver home is no exception.

A high-tech piece of x-ray equipment detected lead in the bathroom tile, some dinnerware and several toys.

“I’m shocked that manufacturers will actually sell things with a lead content,” Weaver said.

“About 4 percent of the items I test I find contain lead,” Weir said.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is slowly lowering the amount of lead acceptable in children’s products. But experts said in a child’s system, no amount of lead is acceptable.

“If it’s there, there’s certainly the potential of leach,” Weir said. “So if your kid’s hands are on this and you don’t wash your hands and then you eat an apple, bite your nails or suck your thumb that’s where my concern is as a parent.”
Fact: according to Children’s Hospital, the average toddler puts their hands in their mouth 10 times every hour. 

Weir said years of experience have shown him the most obvious lead-containing culprits like plastic, vinyl and paint, and especially items with yellow dye.

“Vinyl often has lead in it so if you’re going to get a bean bag get a blue one or a black one as opposed to something that has yellow pigment in it,” Weir said.

Red, orange and greens also contain yellow pigments.

Some of these products that tested positive for lead, like a plastic bath toy and a basketball should probably just be thrown away, but other things like the handles on a bike can be cut off removed and replaced with foam handles, making it would be safe for use.

The results of the lead screening shocked Weaver, who said she’ll never shop the same again.

“I’m gonna be more cautious when I’m buying toys,” Weaver said.

You also need to be aware of lead in your home.

Most ceramic tile and some paint in homes built before 1978 contain lead. For the most part, it’s not a problem until you sand the paint or break up the tile. 

Often the pipes in older homes are soldered using lead and it can leach out into your drinking water. Experts say you should only use cold tap water, since hot water is more likely to contain higher lead levels.