Galveston Lead Poisoning Prevention

12/02/2022

How long does lead impact my child's health?
Lead can impact your child's body long after the exposure has stopped. Lead can be stored in the bones, blood, and tissues and slowly leak back into the body over periods of time.

Short-term effects of lead poisoning include symptoms that are often overlooked or associated with other conditions or illnesses. Some short term effects include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, feeling tired or irritated, memory loss, and hearing loss.

Some effects of lead can last for a long time, even for your entire life! Some long-term effects include anemia, or low red blood cells, weakness, damage to the kidneys and brain, and damage to the nervous system (especially in babies). As mentioned in earlier posts, some brain damage can make it hard for children to learn or cause speech problems.

Lead can also impact the reproductive organs, which can make having children difficult later in life. You may not even know some of these long-term effects exist until much older - especially during menopause.

Lead can have many more effects on the body. For more information, visit the reference links below!

Photos: original creations
Referece: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/health.html
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/health-effects.htm

12/01/2022

Can what my child eats help prevent lead poisoning?

YES! Foods rich in iron, calcium, and vitamin c can help keep your child's body from absorbing lead if accidentally exposed.

Lead can be stored in the bones and leak into the body for a long time after exposure, so it is important to 1) prevent exposure and 2) prevent absorbtion.

Some foods, as seen in our graphic, that can help build a strong body are fruits, vegetables, eggs, and lean meats. The New Mexico Health Department has a more detailed list of foods rich in iron, calcium and vitamin c at https://www.nmhealth.org/publication/view/help/367/.

The Galveston County Health District has a WIC program (Women, Infants, and Children) that can assist low-income families that have pregnant, breastfeeding or postpartum people or children under the age of 5 who are at nutritional risk. WIC can provide nutritional food packages or funds to ensure your family has a healthy diet, especially during the time when your child is growing and learning good food habits!

There are two locations in Galveston - one at the Island Community Center and one at the Moody Early Childhood Center. WIC has several other services that can be seen at https://www.gchd.org/about-us/community-health-services/women-infants-and-children-wic

Photo: Original creation
References:
https://www.gchd.org/about-us/community-health-services/women-infants-and-children-wic

https://www.nmhealth.org/publication/view/help/367/

12/01/2022

How do I keep my home safe?
There are some simple steps you can take at home to reduce the lead exposure within your home.

1) Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially after being outside. Encourage and/or help your children wash their hands frequently as well. It's also recommended to wash your hands before preparing food and after using the restroom. It's highly recommended to wash hands after doing any activities that may increase your exposure to lead such as handling ammunition, remodeling, or working in the garden.

2) Keep your shoes outside, if possible. This can be difficult, so an alternate method is to have a location you can store your shoes that is out of reach of small children. If you must bring your shoes indoors, you can consider cleaning your shoes with disinfectant frequently.

3) You should use damp cloths, disinfectant wipes, or a wet mop when cleaning your home. The purpose of using a wet method is to trap the potential lead particles and prevent them from being stirred up into the air and possibly breathing in the particles.

4) Clean your children's toys frequently with damp cloths. When cleaning, check the condition of the toys and see if the coating is flaking or chipping. If so, you may want to remove the toy from rotation to prevent pieces of the coating from being eaten by the child.

Photo: original creation
Reference: https://www.epa.gov/lead/how-make-your-home-lead-safe

11/30/2022

Who is at highest risk of lead poisoning?
There are several groups of people who are at high risk of lead poisoning including industrial workers, refugees, international immigrants, pregnant women and children. The group at highest risk is low-income children under 6 years old living in homes built before 1978.

Young children, especially toddlers, go through an oral phase. This is a phase where they are figuring out how their mouths work and tend to put just about anything in their mouths, including hands and feet! This is partly why they are considered high-risk.

Children under 6 years old are considered highest risk as their brains and bodies are still developing. When lead enters the body, it can cause damage to organs including the brain. Some damage can be fixed, but some cannot. When brain damage occurs, it can cause learning problems, inability to to pay attention, low IQ, hearing and speech problems and behavioral problems.

There are several factors that impact they way your child responds to lead exposure. Those factors include their age, source and length of exposure, nutritional status, and whether your child has any other medical conditions. As mentioned previously, some children show no signs of lead exposure or poisoning until their levels are very high. There is no safe level of lead in your child's blood.

It is imperitive that your child has their blood tested for lead at 1 year old and 2 years old. If your child is over two and has never been tested or you believe that your child may have been exposed to lead, contact your child's doctor and request testing to be done. Most insurance companies, including medicaid, cover the cost of blood testing. If you don't have a doctor for your child, contact the Galveston County Department of Health at 409-938-7221 for information about clinics or locations that can perform the testing.

Reference & Photo source: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/populations.htm

Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health. No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to negatively affect a child’s intelligence, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement.

11/29/2022

How does lead get in our drinking water?
The most common source is from copper pipes that were used before 1986 as lead was used to solder, or connect the pipes. Lead is released into the water as pipes corrode, or the lining of the pipe wears away after time. Galveston tests their water supply annually for for lead and other particles. This report is released publicly and the most recent report from 2021 can be found at https://www.galvestontx.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2572

The great news is that Galveston's water does not contain an actionable level of lead. This a great thing for our community! It should also be noted that there may be pipes located from the city's lines into your home that contain lead. The city is unable to test each home to determine the individual risk levels.

A few ways you can reduce the risk of lead levels in your water is to only use cold water when preparing baby formula, when preparing other beverages, or using water to cook food. When hot water is used, it increasing the likelihood of lead being released into the water and heating methods, such as boiling water, cannot remove lead.

If you are concerned about the possibility of lead being in your drinking water, the Galveston County Health District has a service to test your drinking water for a fee of $12. There are specific rules about the collection, which you can find at https://www.gchd.org/about-us/environmental-health-services/drinking-water-sample-drop-off

Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources/water.htm

Photo source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water

11/29/2022

Where can lead be found around my home?
Lead can be found in some very surprising areas in and around your home.

Many homes in Galveston were built before 1978. These homes are more likely to have paint that contains lead. Watch for for flaking or crumbling of paint. If you believe your paint may contain lead, it is important that it is carefully removed via scraping instead of water or sand-blasting as this can release the lead particles in the air. You could paint over the lead-containing paint, but this is not recommended as it could become a problem in the future.

Lead can also be found in your home's water due to lead-based pipes and solder, or the material that connects your pipes. We'll go more into water in the next post.

Toys and jewelry, especially costume jewelry, may also contain lead. While the United States has outlawed the use of lead in these items, many are imported from countries that have little to no laws about the use of lead. Try to avoid giving your children costume jewelry that they may chew on. Avoid purchasing toys that have a coating that can flake off and may contain lead-based paint.

Many ethnic food & beauty items, such as traditional kohl eyeliners and some herbs/spices may be high in lead levels. Some of these items include: Ba-baw-san, Da-Tway, Greta, Azarcon, Ghasard, and Sindoor. Some of these items may have a lead content of nearly 90%!!!

Some hobbies, such as stained glass making, renovating old homes, or handling ammunition, can cause a higher-than-normal lead exposure. If you participate in activities like these, it is vital that you wash your hands, clothes, and other items immediately after completion and keep items that cannot be washed outside of the reach of children.

Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources.htm?fbclid=IwAR3z0UDkPM7IQjmjLE0vRQm908PxstSLmJEopmgnpGkJuHY1yqwfDI3Jo1I

Photo Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources.htm

11/29/2022

Lead can damage your child's health in many ways. Lead can be stored by the body in the teeth and bones, which can be released long after the exposure is over.

Common side effects of lead poisoning include developmental delays or difficulty learning, headaches, constipation or difficulty passing stool, not wanting to eat or not feeling hungry, and feeling tired or weak. Some side effects are not able to be seen such as damage to the brain, reproductive organs, or low red blood cells. Some children have severe side effects such as seizures, coma, or even death.

Not everyone who has lead poisoning feels side effects, so it is important to follow your child's doctor's advice for testing for lead, usually around the ages of 1 and 2.

If you do not have a doctor or need help finding a place to have your child tested, please call the Galveston County Department of Health at 409-938-7221 for assistance.

Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health

Image source: https://www.leadfreenj.org/factsheets-and-reports/

11/29/2022

What is lead?
Lead is a toxic metal found in the Earth's crust. As our communities have grown, lead has been used in the creation of many common items found around our homes and communities. This use has increased our exposure over time. We now know that lead can build up in our body and cause life long damage.

Experts agree that there is no such thing as a safe exposure to lead. Children, pregnant people and their unborn children are more likely to experience side effects and damage. Lead usually enters the body from one of two ways: eating, or putting lead-containing objects in the mouth and inhalation, or breathing in small particles of lead released in the air.

Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health

Photo Source: https://uvpublichealth.org/lead-poisoning/

11/22/2022

Welcome to the Galveston Lead Poisoning Prevention page. Our goal is to provide education to allow parents/guardians to keep their children safe from the harmful effects of lead.

We invite you to look through our posts to find answers to your questions. If you have a question we haven't answered yet, feel free to respond to a post or send us a private message so we can help you.

Lead poisoning is preventable and we want to be your partner in ensuring your child is lead free!

Send a message to learn more