Don’t we want children to be safe from lead poisoning?
Of course, no one wants children to be harmed. Consumer safety laws make it so that parents can be confident their children won’t be poisoned by their toys.
However, the biggest lead threat to children has NEVER been toys, apparel, books, or any of the other products affected by CPSIA. 70% of all lead poisoning cases in the U.S. in children are caused by lead paint in their houses. Lead house paint was banned in the 1970’s, but paint that was applied before that chips off and can get into children’s mouths that way.
Another common cause of lead poisoning is from lead in soil. Some of that lead comes from the time when we had leaded gasoline that left lead in the soil near the road. Some of the lead in soil occurs naturally, and some is due to industrial activity. Another source of lead poisoning is the use of imported home remedies, candies, or cosmetics from countries that don’t have the same standards that we do.
Finally, lead in old pipes can leach into drinking water.
No child has ever been harmed by lead in a book, and you can count on one hand the number that have been injured in recent years by lead in their toys or paint on their furniture. Some children have been injured by lead in adults’ products such as keychains and jewelry, but these items are not covered by CPSIA because they are not children’s products. By contrast, in 2006 around 40,000 children had elevated blood levels of lead, mostly from the causes listed above.
CPSIA can do little to prevent lead poisoning.
Lead and The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (I have more information about this on my blog: http://clcandcpsia.blogspot.com It was a March entry)
Since the CDC began its work in 1990, they have almost completely eliminated childhood lead poisoning!
Their tips to prevent lead poisoning, which again, not surprisingly to us, don’t include removing their old books, clothes, bikes, etc:
“Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. The key is stopping children from coming into contact with lead and treating children who have been poisoned by lead…Lead-based paint is the major source of exposure for lead in U.S. children. All houses built before 1978 are likely to contain some lead-based paint. However, it is the deterioration of this paint that causes a problem.”
In fact under their FAQs, they have a very short list of the other possible ways to get lead poisoning, outside of old paint in older homes:
* hobbies (making stained-glass windows)
* work (recycling or making automobile batteries)
* drinking water (lead pipes, solder, brass fixtures, valves can all leach lead)”
What is most amazing to me is that NOTHING on their list of concerns for lead poisoning is being dealt with by CPSIA — and NOTHING that is being dealt a death blow by CPSIA was ever a lead concern for the CDC!!!
And what should we do to prevent lead poisoning in our children. Besides keeping them away from peeling and cracking paint in old homes, this was part of the CDC’s advice: “Regularly wash children’s hands and toys. Hands and toys can become contaminated from household dust or exterior soil. Both are known lead sources.”
Again, it is not their books, clothes, bikes, or other items that are exposing them to lead risks. It is the old paint, and the dust and soil that have been contaminated by old lead paint!
Should we be concerned about lead poisoning in this country? Yes. Should we be overreacting and banning items that have never caused lead problems? Obviously not. The CDC deals with the question of prevention:
“Lead is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell. Children may be exposed to it from consumer products through normal hand-to-mouth activity, which is part of their normal development. They often place toys, fingers, and other objects in their mouth, exposing themselves to lead paint or dust.”
So, again, the ingested lead is a problem for children six and under — if and only if they eat the lead-laden product (such as a small piece of jewelry, but not the handlebars on their bicycle!)
“Just wearing toy jewelry will not cause your child to have a high level of lead in his/her blood. However, small children often put things in their mouth. If you have a small child in your household you should make sure the child does not have access to jewelry or other items that may contain lead.”
I’ve also read that the amount of lead absorbed by the body depends not just on the amount ingested, but on the child’s nutrition as well. If the child doesn’t have a healthy diet, his body absorbs more of the lead he ingests. I’m not sure how large the effect is, but there are plenty of good reasons for a child to have a good diet, so it wouldn’t hurt to add “preventing lead poisoning” to the list.