I am sure we all know about the effect of lead on drinking water. To our credit, we keep being cautious in this respect, at least to the best of our capacity. However, as nature would have it, lead does not only pollute our drinking water but it contaminates our wall paints too- often, with dire consequences. Lead can also find its way through gasoline or plumbing materials.
Lead can poison your nerve, brain and other organs irrespective of whether you consume it or inhale it.
Why do we allow lead into our homes?
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has been quite proactive in phasing out lead and has also been ably supported by the government in this regard. However, when you talk about a heavy metal which is abundant in nature, you can only do so much about it. Let me take you through the process by which NHMRC tried to deal with lead.
How NHMRC phased out lead
By 1970, lead was completely phased out. Lead-based paints were still in use but in the year 1991, the NHMRC proposed the restriction of lead in paints to 0.5%. In the year 1992, this figure was further halved to 0.25% and now it stands at 0.1%. However, it needs being pointed out that even the figure ‘0.1%’ can play havoc at times.
Children Most vulnerable against lead
Children are the prime prey of lead as their body is most vulnerable against it. Not only do their system absorb lead more easily (extreme lack of immunity against lead), they are also the ones present in the vicinity of lead for a greater span of time.
How can lead come in touch with children?
As a parent, I have had my patience running out many a times, asking my toddlers to step away from the floor-edge or the soil area. I also had to sit with them and teach them not to use their hands to chip out paints or not to put dirt in their mouths (there is no shortage of edible material in the house anyway).
How does lead endanger our body?
Lead displays reduced efficacy while working its way in adults but it is certainly far from benign. It may pose dangers to our nerve, brain, kidney, and lungs by causing disability or seizures to the affected organ. In worse cases, lead poisoning can result in death.
The dangers of lead poisoning is maximum for children and can cause irredeemable damage to brain and nerve at quite a young age.
Symptoms of lead toxicity
Lead can impair us physically as well as behaviourally.
Physical symptoms
- Constipation
- Headache
- Muscle cramp
- Diarrhoea
Behavioural symptoms
- Loss of appetite
- Irritability
- Bouts of restlessness
- Heaviness
- Memory loss
- Mood swings
- Disturbed Circadian Rhythm (biological clock)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has not minced words while saying that even 10mcg /dL can imperil a child’s IQ levels.
How to prevent lead poisoning?
- Nothing works better than eliminating the sources of lead. If you have not renovated your home for long, you might have walls losing its paint coat through chipping or cracking. You need to clean up those walls.
- You have to be cautious about the cleanliness of your windows and other surfaces which are prone to picking dust.
- You will be better off avoiding lead pottery or vessel for the purpose of storing food
- Teach your toddler not to chew on things without asking you more about them.
- Get your water tested for levels of lead.
- As a one-stop solution, you can seek the services of a lead abatement contractor. He will test the water and also eliminate further entry points of lead.
We would do anything to give our children a safe and healthy home. As a start, we can ensure that our home is free from threats like VOC’s and lead. Renovating your home can effectively reduce the threat of lead poisoning through chipped wall paints or cracked floors.
Have you got your water tested for levels of lead?
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