The Unseen Dangers of Briefly Lead Poisoning

The Unseen Dangers of Briefly Lead Poisoning

By Monique Smith

The Access Center for Discovery and Learning, an extension of Access Community Health Network recently hosted an event where they addressed issues concerning lead in the community and provided free lead testing kits. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has brought the issue of lead contamination to the forefront.

In the 1970’s there was a huge campaign to ban lead in paints.

Companies that were producing products like paint and toys have since worked to rid their products of lead. In Chicago, the overall rate of those reporting lead poisoning steadily dropped over the past two decades, but the disparity between rich and poor grew wider. Access partnered with Northwestern University and the Chicago Department of Public Health to bring experts to address the concerns of community members regarding lead. One presenter at the event was Dr. Deneen Woodard of Access Community Health Network who discussed issues with detecting lead poisoning.

“The problem with detection is that lead poisoning victims usually are A-Symptomatic , there are usually no symptoms. In some cases the children can have high levels of lead in their system, but have no symptoms.” Dr. Woodard went on to discuss that though there have been no significant rise in reported cases of lead poisoning, it still is and has always been a problem for young children who are most at risk. She said, “The major difference in how we test and report cases of lead in people are the levels requirements. The number has changed. It used to be that the base level was 10, so anyone with a number over that would be considered someone with lead poisoning. That number has now changed to 5, so anyone with reported levels of a 6 or above is now considered a victim of lead poisoning.” Dr. Woodard says the standard age of testing starts at 6 months until 6 years-old. Over a period of time, it has been proven that even low levels of lead have shown to affect IQ, attention span, and academic achievement. Lead in the body does not allow brain cells to fully develop and can show up in the form of behavioral issues.

According to Dr. Binns, Chicago still has a number of properties that have

lead service lines which were required until 1986. Though the levels in those lines are low, to reduce exposure even more she advises letting your tap water and shower water run for 5 minutes prior to use. There are other things we can do to protect ourselves like purchasing water filters or water filter pitchers. “The main source continues to be lead containing paint. It’s important to understand how old our homes are and to figure out how to fix the problem, but fix it correctly because we can make the problem worse,” she says.

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