Getting The Lead Out

Early Show "Anchor Moms Against Lead" Show Where You Can Find It

(CBS)  The Early Show is on lead's case. "Anchor Moms Against Lead," our self-styled, anti-lead squad of anchors and correspondents who are mothers or pregnant -- show you why it's so dangerous, where you can find it -- many of the places may surprise you -- and what you can do about it.

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To see a list of online resources that can help you find and remove sources of lead, and diagnose and treat lead poisoning, click here.

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Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007

Lead's Medical Impact, And Symptoms

Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay, herself a mother of three, explained why lead in the body is such a big concern.

She pointed out that a lot of recent headlines have focused on concerns about toys whose paint has lead content, and those concerns are, of course, real, because you don't want exposure to lead to add up.

Adults working in heavy industries can be exposed to lead released by manufacturing or other processes.

But the most typical source of lead exposure, especially for children, is still very old buildings.

Years ago, when plumbers soldered pipes together, they often used compounds containing lead. If that solder is still there, it can contaminate drinking water.

But the main source is usually old paint on the walls.

Lead in house paint was phased out about 30 years ago, but if your house or building was constructed before the mid-1970s, there may be an old coat of lead-based paint under the fresher paint. As newer paint peels, older paint is exposed, and can find its way into children's mouths. So, many kids are still exposed to lead in those older homes. They eat it, and they breathe dust from ground-up paint chips. And it hurts them.

Lead travels through the bloodstream and can ultimately affect just about every organ in the body. But the damage can be especially pronounced in the brain and nervous system. Both the ability to learn and think, and motor functions, can degrade over time. Lead can severely damage the kidneys, whose job it is to filter impurities from the blood. When a woman is pregnant, exposure to high levels of lead can cause a miscarriage, and of course her unborn child can suffer permanent damage to his or her brain, nerves and other organs while still in the womb.

I's extremely important to know that high lead levels may produce no symptoms at all. You can't count on having warning signs. But high lead levels can produce fatigue, or poor concentration, or behavioral problems. If a child swallows enough lead, it can cause a severe stomach ache. High lead levels can also cause pain in muscles or joints.

So, if any of these signs appear, tell your doctor. But even if there are no signs, don't assume there's no problem.

A simple blood test can determine whether a child has been exposed to too much lead.

If a child's cognitive abilities have been damaged by exposure to lead, the damage can't be reversed, experts at the National Institutes of Health say.

So, the emphasis needs to be on preventing exposure to excessive amounts of lead in the first place, and minimizing exposure if damage does exist, in order to prevent further damage.

The experts also recommend that, if your home is old enough to contain excess lead, get it tested, and cleaned out if necessary, by a trained professional. It's not a do-it-yourself kind of job.

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Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007

Testing Toddlers For Lead Poisoning: Easy, Vital

Toddlers are at especially high risk of getting lead poisoning.

As Saturday Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez explained, doctors call toddlers "mouthers," because they put so many things in their mouths, since that's a primary way they explore their worlds.

But much of what they insert could have lead in or on it, from paint, to toys, and so many other things. And if they lift the paint off the toys and ingest it, or swallow anything else containing lead, they could put themselves in jeopardy.

Lead paint in the home is the leading cause of lead poisoning, Rodriguez stressed, but it's certainly not the only one.

Rodriguez, mother of a two-year-old, Daniella, had her apartment checked for lead hazards, and it came up clean.

But specialists say even when that's the case, small children should still be tested. That involves a simple finger prick, and if that test shows worrisome signs, a full blood test is required. Lead poisoning often has no obvious symptoms, and testing is the only way to know for sure if a child has high lead levels.

That was borne out by a Baltimore mom of two Rodriguez met whose family is facing lead poisoning firsthand.

Just two months ago, Jamia Handy thought her kids were healthy.

Then, their pediatrician tested them for lead poisoning. Four-year-old Chavez tested positive, but he could be treated with vitamins.

It was Jamia's toddler, 20-month-old Jaiah, whose levels were off the charts: Anything over 10 is a problem. Jaiah's level was 82.

"With levels that high," says Dr. Oscar Taube of Baltimore's Sinai Hospital, "critical things can happen. Children can seize, children can go into a coma."

Taube sent Jaiah to the hospital immediately. She had the highest lead level he'd seen in 24 years of practice.

"We really couldn't justify her spending another moment in that house," he says.

"Everything tested positive in the house," Handy told Rodriguez. "The walls had low positives, the windows had high positives, the floors had high positives, the carpet down here was high."

But it was Jaiah's special spot in the front window that experts found had the biggest lead problem. The testers' machine beeped away when she went near it.

"The paint, the window wells, everything, just lead," Handy says.

Jaiah spent 19 days in the hospital, three in intensive care. She had so much lead in her little body that doctors could see lead chips on an x-ray of her stomach. She came home, but her lead level shot back up to 60, so she's been back in the hospital.

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Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007

Lead In Homes

It's not just in or on your kids' toys or even in the paint on your walls where lead could be lurking. You'd be amazed at some of its hiding spots.

Some 310,000 children are poisoned by lead each year in the United States, mainly in their homes, points out Early Show national correspondent and mom-to-be Tracy Smith.

The Environmental Protection Agency says any house built before 1978 may pose a lead danger, and that includes Smith's Manhattan apartment, an old milk bottling factory built in 1911.

Though it's been renovated and painted, Smith wasn't sure if lead could still pose a problem. For instance, what it there's lead behind the walls?

Ruth Ann Norton, who runs the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, cautioned Smith that she needs to make sure the rehab and cleanup after it were done properly, with no lead dust left behind.

"Lead dust," Norton explained, "is the main pathway for children getting poisoned. It takes the equivalent of three granules of sugar of leaded dust to get on a baby's hand and into their mouth to start a poisoning process."

Smith was most concerned about the room she and her husband are converting to a nursery.

"Pregnant women who are exposed to lead have a higher risk of low birth weight babies, miscarriages and stillbirth," Norton says. "A significantly higher rate."

So Smith brought in lead inspector Eddie Weinstein.

"The first spot that we'd look for lead," he said, "is in walls and in window frames, anywhere that peeling paint might occur." Chipping and peeling lead paint breaks down into toxic dust.

Among other tools, Weinstein used a special X-ray machine to check the inside of the walls for lead content.

The future nursery turned out to be fine.

Tests of the apartment's water came back negative.

But Smith wasn't home-free. Weinstein found a serving platter in her kitchen that was loaded with lead. He said he wouldn't let kids near it. Smith threw it out.

For much more on lead that might be in your home:

The National Lead Information Center has a hotline that can answer most questions about lead or provide a list of lead professionals in your area: 1-800-424-LEAD

The EPA also has information at this location.

For lead safety training courses, click here.

To find a lead contractor to fix your home, click here.

To see a list, updated monthly, of EPA-acrredited labs you can send a dust swab test to, click here.

[spope517]

Perhaps it is time for US business to realize that we entrust far too much in overseas manufacturing. With the US job market in the state that it is in, bringing manufacturing back home will create jobs...yes products will cost more but what is more important? The mental and physical health of the nations children or the "bottom line". Well, we as parents know the answer but corporate America does not. This maybe the perfect time, holiday season, for a good old fashion boycott of toys made in China. This didn''t just start, people. This has been going on since the first manufacturer took their operation off shore. Children have been getting exposed to lead and chocking hazards for an extremely long time. Let''s organize and save this country''s future.

[spope517]

Perhaps it is time for US business to realize that we entrust far too much in overseas manufacturing. With the US job market in the state that it is in, bringing manufacturing back home will create jobs...yes products will cost more but what is more important? The mental and physical health of the nations children or the "bottom line". Well, we as parents know the answer but corporate America does not. This maybe the perfect time, holiday season, for a good old fashion boycott of toys made in China. This didn''t just start, people. This has been going on since the first manufacturer took their operation off shore. Children have been getting exposed to lead and chocking hazards for an extremely long time. Let''s organize and save this country''s future.

[tsrangus]

Lead in toys is a major concern, but what we really need to investigate is our food supply. Right now our own USDA is lobbing hard to allow import of cows from Canada that very possiblly are carriers of Mad Cow. The US government is trying to bypass facts that the Canadian cow herd has a very high rate of infection. All the while putting our own citizens at risk just to keep the a few very large businesses happy. The really scary part is the USDA wants to import all of our food and not produce anything in the US, what type of poisons might end up in our food if we can''t even keep lead out of toys.

[onlybygrace]

My son was diagnosed with lead. Actually 12.2 levels of it when he was 5. Nows he''s 21 and still have complications with it like anger spells, headaches, mood swings, depression, and not being able to sleep or control himself. I thought he would have been able to control it as he gotten older but he still have the sympthoms. I was young living in public hosing I didn''t know what that was. When I did find out when he gotten older it was too late for me to get a lawyer.I was told it wasn''t the housing authority fault, but when they asked me to move they demolished the whole building because the paint and water pipes were full of lead and it was a old army barracks turned into public housing site.

[cleanwash1]

What about children that were never diagnosed? I have 4 children (24, 21,18 & 17) who had muscle pains, fatigue and disrupted behavior. Will they have health problems in the future? If tested now is there a way to get rid of the lead in their systems? I live in a 100 year old house and my doctor never said anything. The three boys all suffer with ADHD, ODD, IED and major depression. My daughter doesn''t seem to suffer as much but did have the muscle pains and was sick a lot as a child.

[acfboo]

Why are y''all fussing so much about China letting lead get into our children''s toys, when the great USA lets lead get by in our children''s required shots? We shoot it straight into our children, required by law... And we have more autism than any other country??? Wonder Why, Go Figure...

[jaypeople]

I found out in August my son, who is 3.5 years old, has lead poisoning. We thought it was the toys, took most of his Thomas toys away and others, and put him on vitamins. A month later his level was still high. We discovered our large bay window was the culprit when the county health department came out. My house was built in 1967, so it''s not that old. When we bought the house, our realtor told us it wasn''t necessary to test the house for lead since we didn''t live in a "lead zone."

Now I''m dealing with a $4000 bill for a new window and the possibilty that my children (3.5 year old and 18 month old) could be affected for the rest of their lives. I''m extremely worried for my son and very angry at the entire situation.

I think all realtors should push to have homes tested for lead if they were built before 1978! If we had known we would have pushed for the seller to replace the window before we bought the house.

[debbyelwell]

New test for children from Arkansas State University. Dr. Robyn Hannigan professor has pioneered a new lead test using oral fluid, no needles, no tears. www.hyphenatedsolutions.com

[tjdis]

who is the "anchor mom" on the far right? don''t think I have ever seen her on the tv b4.

[kunser]

I too am appalled about the amout of lead found in everyday objects that our children are exposed to but I was recently frightened to my core by a talk show while travelling in my car. It was either on Vermont Public Radio, NPR or a local station WDEV with Mark Johnson. The reason I''m giving this info is that I feel Maggie Rodriguez may want to investigate THIS!!! An author was being interviewed and was stating that while we are up in arms in this country about the prevelence of lead what we should really be alarmed about are the MANY more toxic chemicals that are banned in Europe but are allowed in products in the U.S.!!!! The one that comes to mind was something called thalates(sp?)which is in everything from pacifiers,nipples on baby bottles,most soft rubber toys much like the ones Maggie Rodreguiz''s two year old daughter WAS chewing on, in the piece that was broadcast this morning!!! In fact it is the chemical that makes the rubber soft. Apparently this chemical has been proven to show problems with the neuro-transmitters in the brain. So in conclusion this was ONLY ONE of the chemicals that we allow in this country, that have already been BANNED in Europe.Lead may merely be the tip of the iceberg. Wish I could remember the name of the book and the author, perhaps you can investigate?! We wonder why autism seems to be on the rise, maybe we should stop wondering.

[adlerm1]

Regarding "Getting the Lead Out" -- I share the outrage of consumers having to worry about the lead content in many of our imported products . . . but has it occurred to ANYONE that the fault lies not so much with our underfunded government agencies as with those who voted to open (or voted for those who advocated opening) the floodgate of imports from China and elsewhere in the game of the Global Economy? The rosy promises made when NAFTA and other trade agreements were on the table should have been considered for what they were . . . false representations!

[kathyniznik]

It has gotten scary going down the toy aisle and wondering what''s next. Wanted to tell everyone that I only by toys now from Discovery Toys either online or through a consultant. 30 years, no mandatory recalls, testing has always been above and beyond FDA requirements.

[sw944]

The one place that you found lead was in the dishes....why did you not explore this more? There are dishes (many handpainted) in most home/kitchen stores in America that could have lead in them. The countries where these are made (China, etc.) do not have the same regulations in place that the US does...this is an avenue that could be explored further as we manufacture most of our goods abroad.

Just my two cents.

[eggy1620]

FOR PICKING UP WHERE THE GOV. IS DROPPING THE BALL. Posted by drew8975

Exactly where is the government dropping the ball with regard to old buildings? Do you propose that the government demolish every structure built before 1978?

[paulberryman-2009]

Did anyone test the red lipstick? Acording to NBC it contains lead and not just traces of it.

[drew8975]

THANK YOU! EARLY SHOW ANCHOR MOMS, FOR PICKING UP WHERE THE GOV. IS DROPPING THE BALL. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, & GOD BLESS FOR HELPING KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE!

[drew8975]

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