Ten Things You Can Do To “Get The Lead Out”

• Have your child tested for lead with a blood test during a regular pediatric visit. Children should be tested at about 12 months of age and again at 24 months. High risk children should be tested every 6 months until 2 years of age and then each year until age 6. Record results of tests.
• Wash children’s hands after play, before eating, and before bed. Wash their toys, pacifiers and other objects they put in their mouths.
• Use only lead-free ceramics for cooking or storing food. Pottery from foreign countries often contains lead.
• Feed your child 3 meals a day with foods high in calcium (milk, cheese, yogurt) and iron (lean meat, beans, eggs) and give them healthy snacks.
• Use only cold water from the cold water tap for cooking or for making baby formula. Run water from the cold water tap until the temperature changes (about 1 minute).
• Once a week, use detergent to wet mop floors, window sills, furniture or other surfaces that may contain lead in dust.
• If your home was built before 1978, Test your home for lead before renovating or repairing. Never sand blast paint.
• Keep your child away from peeling, chipping paint.
• Plant shrubs, grass, or other ground cover on bare soil you suspect may contain lead.
• Recycle spent rechargeable batteries.

Is Your Child at High Risk For Lead Poisoning?

A “yes” to any of these questions means that your child is at high risk. Does your child...

• Live in or stay at a house built before 1950?
• Live in or regularly visit a house built before 1978 with recent or ongoing renovations or remodeling?
• Live with an adult whose job or hobby exposes them to lead? (Furniture refinishing, making stained glass, electronics, soldering, automotive repair, making fishing weights and lures, reloading shotgun shells and bullets, participating in indoor firing ranges, doing home repairs and remodeling, and making pottery)
• Have a habit of eating dirt, paint chips, or other non-food items?
• Have a brother or sister with high blood lead levels?
• Have iron deficiency, anemia, sickle cell disease, a developmental delay, or behavioral problems?

Lead is dangerous and can cause serious permanent damage at levels much lower than was thought just a few years ago. Small children are more at risk of being lead poisoned because they often put non-food items in their mouths. The only way to protect your child is to prevent exposure to lead. Lead can affect the ability of your child to learn. Lead can cause a delay in speech and can result in learning disabilities or behavioral problems. It may also damage a pregnant woman and her unborn child. A lead poisoned child usually does not look sick! The only way to know if your child is sick is to do a blood lead test. It is very important to test toddlers. Your doctor or health department can do a blood test.

Provided by the Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 200 Topeka, KS, 66612 (785) 296-0189 Fax(785) 296-6522