In the United States prior to , lead was also an additive to gasoline. Drinking water systems that utilize lead solder and lead pipes can release lead into the water that passes through them. Lead can also be found in soil from active industry or in the environment from disposal of lead-containing products, such as batteries World Health Organization [WHO], Main Menu.
What are the main sources of lead? Lead hazards can be found in several places inside and outside of your home, including: Old Paint: Lead-based paint, most often found in homes built before , is unsafe if it peels, chips, cracks, or chalks. Since babies and young children often put their hands and other objects in their mouths, they are likely to swallow lead dust or chew paint chips. Children are most often poisoned by consuming lead dust through normal hand-to-mouth activity, Pregnant women who breathe in high levels of lead dust can transmit lead to their unborn children, causing serious damage.
Lead is particularly dangerous to children because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.
Babies and young children can also be more highly exposed to lead because they often put their hands and other objects that can have lead from dust or soil on them into their mouths. Children may also be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that contain lead, inhaling lead dust from lead-based paint or lead-contaminated soil or from playing with toys with lead-based paint. Adults may be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that contain lead.
They may also breath lead dust by spending time in areas where lead-based paint is deteriorating, and during renovation or repair work that disturbs painted surfaces in older homes and buildings. Working in a job or engaging in hobbies where lead is used, such as making stained glass, can increase exposure as can certain folk remedies containing lead. The U. Get information on the number of children with elevated blood lead levels, and number and percentage of children tested for lead in your area.
Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. Even when lead is not intentionally used in a product, it may contaminate items such as food, water, or alcoholic drinks, such as moonshine whiskey [CDC ; Warren and Vaughan ]. Lead may contaminate food during. Storage Food or beverages may be stored in lead-containing vessels that contaminate the product. While lead is prohibited from many products in the United States, imported or pre-regulation products may still pose a risk.
Some people can be exposed to lead using certain imported home remedies or cosmetics [CDC c]. Several examples are listed below. These remedies are also known as. Lead is ubiquitous in the environment because of widespread human use. Environmental background levels vary depending on historic and ongoing uses in the area.
The past use of lead in gasoline has contaminated soils, especially along roadways. Active and passive smoking second-hand smoke is associated with increased BLLs in U. Third-hand smoke surface residue from tobacco cigarette smoke is a new health concern [Ferrante et al.
There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure; even brief exposure can be harmful to health. Lead dust concentrations, usually ingested during hand to mouth activity, do not appear to mediate this association, suggesting inhalation as a major pathway of exposure from SHS [Apostolou et al. Second-hand smoke is associated with increased blood lead levels in U. A representative sample of 5, U. Third-hand smoke THS is the residue from tobacco smoke, which remains on just about every surface exposed to that smoke and may build up over time.
This residue poses an additional exposure risk, especially in infants and children, that may impact BLLs. Children and infants have an increased exposure risk to tobacco THS than adults because they typically spend more time indoors and have age-specific behaviors such as mouthing.
This increased exposure risk may increase their risk of potential health hazards from exposure to THS [Ferrante et al. However, more studies are needed to support an association between third-hand smoke exposure and increased BLLs in children. The major exposure pathways for workers are inhalation and ingestion of lead-bearing dust and fumes.
Workers in the lead smelting, refining, and manufacturing industries experience the highest and most prolonged occupational exposures to lead [ATSDR ]. Increased risk for occupational lead exposure occurs among workers in. Workers renovating highway overpasses and bridges are frequently exposed to higher lead content paint applied to these structures over many years [OSHA ]. Para-occupational exposure is defined as exposure which occurs in households who live with an occupationally exposed worker, but who are not themselves occupationally exposed.
Many small businesses and cottage industries are actually located in the home. Some examples include. Secondary exposures also called domestic, take home, second hand, etc.
The past use of lead in gasoline has contaminated soils, particularly in inner cities, and especially along roadways. Lead has been blended with gasoline, as an additive primarily to boost octane levels, since the early s. In addition to increasing the octane of gasoline, leaded gasoline also protected exhaust valve seats in vehicles designed to operate on leaded gasoline from excessive wear.
Both of these objectives are now accomplished without the use of leaded gasoline [EPA ]. The use of TEL in gasoline paved the way for the development of the high power, high-compression internal combustion engines that were to win WWII and dominate the U. Your house can look clean and still have lead in it. Household dust is a common source of lead exposure for young children because they can breathe in or eat it. The dust can contain lead from interior lead-based paint or tracked-in, contaminated soil.
Lead dust can also be created during home remodeling or renovation projects or when lead-based paint is not removed safely. Eating cracking, chipping and peeling lead-based paint is also a source of lead exposure for young children. Lead paint was used on the inside and outside of homes until Lead-based paint may also be on cribs, highchairs, windows, woodwork, walls, doors, railings and ceilings.
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