For Immediate Release:
October 19, 2009

Contact:
Kit Wagar
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062

State steps up efforts to end childhood lead poisoning
Missouri joins nation in asking, “What’s on your walls?”

Lead poisoning rates in Missouri continue a long, slow decline, but state health officials are concerned that too many children are never tested for elevated blood-lead levels.

In conjunction with National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Oct. 18-24, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is promoting a national lead awareness campaign that asks parents, “What’s on your walls?”

“Lead poisoning is one of the most common and preventable health problems for children today,” said Cherri Baysinger, chief of the state health department’s Bureau of Environmental Epidemiology. “In Missouri last year, nearly 1,200 children younger than 6 years old were identified with elevated levels of lead in their blood. But we know even more are never diagnosed because they are not tested.”

Baysinger said children under age 6 should be screened for lead exposure every year.
The most common way children are poisoned by lead is from exposure to lead paint, which is commonly found on the walls of homes built before 1978. Disturbing the lead paint creates dust that settles on toys, windowsills and floors. Children can then breathe in or swallow the lead dust and paint chips.

Children can also be exposed to lead from other sources including:

• Vinyl mini blinds made outside the United States
• Home or folk remedies such as Azarcon and Greta
• Calcium supplements
• Eating or mouthing lead-containing toys, trinkets, jewelry or fishing tackle.
• Living in a current or historical lead smelting area
• Playing in contaminated bare soil
•  Living with someone who works with or has hobbies using lead.

Lead affects nearly every system in the body. Health problems can include learning disabilities, behavior disorders, lowered IQ, delayed development, slowed growth, hearing loss and hyperactivity. Lead poisoning often has no obvious symptoms, and some symptoms are the same as those of more common illnesses.

Because lead poisoning can begin even before a child is born, pregnant women should also be tested for lead exposure. Women might be exposed to lead in many of the same ways as children and can then pass the lead on to their unborn babies. 

To help eliminate lead poisoning in Missouri, the state health department’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is encouraging local health agencies and other health care partners to participate in National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week’s “What’s on your walls?” campaign. Local public health agencies will distribute information about lead poisoning prevention efforts at events such as health fairs for parents and will provide free blood lead tests for young children and pregnant women.

“Childhood lead poisoning remains a major environmental health problem in this state and country,” said Baysinger. “We ask people to do their part by preventing children’s exposure to lead hazards among family members and their community. Together, we can make lead poisoning a thing of the past.”

For general information about lead poisoning and ways to check your home for lead hazards, visit the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Web site at www.dhss.mo.gov/ChildhoodLead/.  A complete list of recalled products containing lead can be found on the US Consumer Product Safety Commission at www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/haz.aspx.