(1888PressRelease)
June 01, 2009 - When leaded gasoline and lead-based paints were taken off the market thirty years ago, there was a widespread and erroneous assumption that the lead problem was taken care of.
Indeed, the county public health department data recently cited by environmental health sciences professor, Hilary Godwin, UCLA School of Public Health would also leave one with the impression that the drop in blood lead levels means those previously tested individuals are lead free.
But the children with the high blood lead levels a decade ago are soon to become adults – and have children of their own.
Ten years ago, lab tests showed concerning levels of lead in their blood. There may be less lead measured in children’s blood today, but what happened to the lead in those tested with high levels previously?
Lead does not exit the body on its own, but rather accumulates over ones’ lifetime in bones and brain tissue. As the young women get pregnant, the accumulated lead will travel cross placenta to fetus. The damage lead will do to developing fetal brains will be permanent. When the babies become children and teenagers we will call it ADHD or a learning disability. IQ scores will be lower, and behavior disorders will likely be a direct outcome of the in-utero lead exposure. The young men may discover they are infertile, or their offspring may be born with congenital birth defects – the product of round-headed sperm that results from the lead that was measured in their blood when they were kids.
Blood lead levels give a snap shot of present exposure - an important piece of information. But turning off the pumps, or changing the paint formula did not solve the problem of lead. It simply changed the rules of the game, and raised the stakes.
Dr. Sandra Cottingham, co-author of a new book about breaking the cycle of damage caused by lead, expresses concern that citing data based on blood lead levels encourages parents and consumers to be less concerned about lead exposure at a time when we need better lead education and individual action to safeguard against exposure. “We have a generation who struggle to read, learn, concentrate and behave: lead babies. We can produce another generation of lead damaged children, or we can break the cycle now.”
Cottingham urges each of us to become lead-savvy and to take the easy, inexpensive steps to protect ourselves and our family members. She recommends as an easy-to-read, empowering guide:
LEAD BABIES
Breaking the cycle of learning disabilities, declining IQ, ADHD, behavior problems, and autism
By Joanna Cerazy M.Ed. and Sandra Cottingham Ph.D
www.nomoreleadbabies.com
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