How is lead poisoning diagnosed? If you think you or your child may have been exposed to lead, contact your healthcare provider. They'll ask about your symptoms and have you or your child get a
A simple blood test can detect lead poisoning. A small blood sample is taken from a finger prick or from a vein. Lead levels in the blood are measured in micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL). There is no safe blood level of lead.
There are dietary products which stimulate the body's ability to excrete lead acquired from the environment. For reducing blood lead levels, vitamin C, vitamin E, thiamine (B1), folate (B9) and iron have the strongest and most consistent blood lead links.
Adults, Just Like Children, Can Have Lead Poisoning
The severity of symptoms depends on the level of exposure; some people might show no symptoms at all. The only way to know if someone has lead poisoning is to do a blood lead test.
Lead exposure can cause high blood pressure and brain, kidney and reproductive health issues in adults. Symptoms of lead poisoning include headaches, stomach cramps, constipation, muscle/joint pain, trouble sleeping, fatigue, irritability, and loss of sex drive.
The lead can be either stored or excreted into your urine and faeces. The time it takes for most of the lead to be excreted depends on how long you have been exposed for. If the lead is not excreted by the kidney or gut within a few weeks the remaining lead moves to your bones and teeth.
Symptoms often happen slowly, over weeks or longer. People with mild lead poisoning often have no symptoms. If not found early, children with high levels of lead in their bodies can have: Damage to the brain and nervous system.
Is lead poisoning curable? The effects of lead poisoning aren't reversible. But you can reduce blood lead levels and prevent further exposure by finding and removing the sources of lead from your child's home or environment.
There are many different home test kits available on the market. But only US EPA approved test kits will give you a reliable result. Visit the US EPA's Lead Test Kits website for a list of approved home test kits.
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.
Eat foods high in iron (lean meat, fish, eggs, beans, peas, peanut butter, raisins), calcium (milk products, green vegetables) and vitamin C (citrus, green vegeta- bles and potatoes with skins). These foods will help decrease the amount of ingested lead that is absorbed into the body.
Nearly 500,000 children under age 5 in the U.S. have high levels of lead in their blood. Eating or breathing in dust from deteriorating lead-based paint is the most common cause of lead poisoning among children.
Moisten cotton-tipped applicators with a few drops of distilled white vinegar. Rub the moistened cotton on the red surface. If a red color appears on the cotton, Lead Check Swabs cannot be used. Send a sample of the material to a certified laboratory or use another type of field procedure for further testing.
A simple blood test will show lead exposure within the last 20 to 30 days, but will not show earlier exposure because lead settles into a person's bones, like calcium.
Can lead poisoning be treated? There is no antidote for lead. Seriously exposed persons may need to be hospitalized and undergo chelation therapy to accelerate the excretion of lead from the body. Chelation therapy is necessary when blood lead levels are higher than 45 µg/dL.
Signs of Lead in Your Home
Here are some signs to look out for: Peeling or chipping paint. Old home built prior to 1978 (before lead-based paint was banned in the U.S.) A metallic taste in your mouth.
There are several ways to remove lead-based paints: Wire brushing or wet hand scraping with the aid of a non-flammable solvent or abrasive compound. Liquid paint removers can be used on small areas, such as windowsills, doors and woodwork.
For more severe cases of lead poisoning, your healthcare provider might recommend chelation therapy. This is when you take a medicine by mouth. The medicine binds with the lead so that your body can wee it out.
Succimer, or meso 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), is an analogue of dimercaprol used in lead poisoning. It has high sensitivity for lead, but its ability to chelate essential trace metals is low. It is available as capsules of 100 mg.
Lead poisoning is very common. 1 in 40 children ages 1-5 years old have blood lead levels that are considered unsafe (over 5 µg/dL).
A blood lead test is the best way to find out if a child has lead poisoning. A child with lead poisoning may not have visible signs or symptoms. Parents can talk to their child's healthcare provider about getting a blood lead test if their child may have been exposed.
Boiling water does not reduce lead levels and may actually increase them. Test your water. The only way to know if lead has been reduced by letting it run is to check with a test. If letting the water run does not reduce lead, consider other options to reduce your exposure.
Thallium is tasteless and odorless and has been used by murderers as a difficult to detect poison. It is found in trace amounts in the earth's crust.