Smart Kids With LD

By Eve Kessler, Esq.

In the first century A.D., the Roman Emperor Nero’s physician recognized that exposure to lead imperiled the mind. Today there’s plenty of scientific evidence to support that notion, plus a lot more. We now know that exposure to high levels of lead can lead to kidney damage, seizures, coma and death, as well as DNA mutations and other cell and chromosomal damage. In addition, lead can negatively impact many of the factors associated with learning difficulties, including reading, reasoning and memory abilities, hearing loss, speech delay, balance difficulties, impulsivity, low levels of concentration, and anti-social behavior.

Most Vulnerable

Lead poisoning is a problem at any age, but preschoolers are particularly vulnerable. At the same time young children are developing the building blocks for learning, they’re most likely to be exposed to the toxin via toys, furniture, playground equipment, and other objects containing lead-based paint. Additional sources of lead contamination are soil, drinking water, food containers, artificial turf, and playground surfaces made out of shredded rubber.

Lead is a mineral that when inhaled or ingested (e.g. in the form of paint dust or flakes) goes into the bloodstream and eventually is absorbed by the bones where it remains indefinitely. The greater the accumulation, the greater the toxicity. Even fetuses can be exposed to high doses of lead through mothers carrying too much of the mineral in their bodies.

Unsafe at Any Level

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 250,000 children in the U.S. have blood lead levels higher than 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood, the level at which the agency recommends initiating public health actions. Scientists agree, however, than any amount of lead can be harmful.

Children exposed to lead at levels now deemed safe have lower IQ scores—on average 11.1 points lower than children with lead levels below 0.8 micrograms per deciliter. In addition, children with lead levels of over 2 micrograms per deciliter are four times more likely to have ADHD than children with levels below 0.8 micrograms per deciliter.

Inner-city children have five times the amount of bone lead as suburban children, a finding that has been replicated in studies the world over.

Nationwide, approximately 310,000 children between the ages of one and five years old and over five million four-to-15-year-olds have lead levels over 2 micrograms per deciliter—most of them living in inner cities.

Protecting Your Family

Vigilance is the key to reducing your family’s risk for lead exposure. These simple steps will help protect your kids at home and at school:

• If your home or apartment was built before 1978, have it tested for lead-based paint
• Wash hands after playing outdoors
• Wash toys, bottles, and pacifiers often
• Carefully check areas where paint chips and dust are likely to gather (windows, doors, drawers, etc.).
• Wipe up residue with a damp cloth
• Wipe soles of shoes before coming inside
• Check play areas, furniture, and equipment at home and at school for chipping or flaking paint.

Symptoms of Lead Poisoning

Lead poisoning often goes undetected until high levels of the mineral have accumulated in the body. A simple blood test can determine if your child has a problem. Typical symptoms include:

• Sluggishness
• Persistent fatigue
• Irritability
• Hyperactivity
• Reduced attention span
• Weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Sleep difficulty
• Abdominal pain
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Unusual paleness or anemia

This article is based in part on information presented by Bruce Lanphear, M.D., M.P.H., Sloan Professor of Children’s Environmental Health, Cincinnati (OH) Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and Herbert L. Needleman, M.D.