As with children, adults may not manifest any overt symptoms but still suffer adverse health consequences.Ĭases of pneumonia in children have spiked in China this fall. There are a variety of potential effects, including anemia, kidney problems, high blood pressure and reproductive health issues, including low sperm count and miscarriage. Lead poisoning in adults is less common and often associated with workplace exposure. Longer-term symptoms include developmental delays, learning difficulties, weight loss and mood disorders. At that point, they could experience symptoms like abdominal pain, headaches, vomiting, constipation, irritability and seizures. Symptoms don’t tend to manifest until there is a large amount of lead in someone’s body. Parents and caregivers may not know that their kids have a dangerous level of lead. Wen: One of the difficulties of detecting lead exposure is that most children have no symptoms. The scope of the problem is large: According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children in approximately 4 million households are exposed to high levels of lead.ĬNN: What are the symptoms of lead poisoning? If there is lead dust in their environment, they may put their hands on the dust and ingest lead without their caregivers knowing it. Second, little kids often put things into their mouths. That’s for two reasons: First, toddlers and young kids are developing and growing rapidly - these toxins have an outsize impact on developing organs. The adverse effects are most pronounced in young children under 6 years of age. Nearly half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with ‘forever chemicals,’ government study finds These effects can include damage to the brain and nervous system that could manifest as lower IQ, learning and behavior difficulties, hearing loss, speech problems, and impaired growth and development. Leana Wen: A mantra among pediatricians and public health experts is that no amount of lead is safe for children.Įxposure to lead has long been known to have many documented adverse effects - both short-term and long-term - on children’s health. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner, where her responsibilities included overseeing childhood lead poisoning prevention programs.ĬNN: Why are high lead levels so dangerous, and why is it that children are most at risk for lead poisoning?ĭr. Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. To help us navigate these questions, I spoke with CNN wellness medical expert Dr. Why are high lead levels so dangerous, especially to children? What are the symptoms of lead poisoning, and what treatments exist for it? And how much of a public health impact will removing all lead pipes really make? This proposal has prompted many questions about the impact of lead on people’s health. The new proposed rule is in line with the Biden administration’s goal of removing all lead pipes, regardless of the lead levels in tap or other drinking water samples, though officials have said that certain “limited circumstances” may be allowed to extend the time to complete system-wide line replacements. Last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule that would require water systems across the country to replace millions of lead service pipes within the next 10 years.
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