Health Effects of Lead Exposure

Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health and cause well-documented adverse effects such as:

• Damage to the brain and nervous system
• Slowed growth and development
• Learning and behavior problems
• Hearing and speech problems

This can cause:

• Lower IQ
• Decreased ability to pay attention
• Underperformance in school

There is also evidence that childhood exposure to lead can cause long-term harm.

Lead exposure in children is often difficult to see. Most children have no obvious immediate symptoms. If  there’s suspicion that a child may have been exposed to lead, parents should talk to their child’s healthcare provider about getting a blood lead test. Healthcare providers can test for lead in the blood. Many private insurance policies cover the cost of testing for lead in the blood. The cost of blood lead testing for children enrolled in Medicaid is covered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The health effects of exposure are more harmful to children less than six years of age because their bodies are still developing and growing rapidly. Young children also tend to put their hands or other objects, which may be contaminated with lead dust, into their mouths, so they are more likely to be exposed to lead than older children.

Lead in the Blood and Body

Lead quickly enters the blood and can harm a child’s health. Once a child swallows lead, their blood lead level rises. Once a child’s exposure to lead stops, the amount of lead in the blood decreases gradually. The child’s body releases some of the lead through urine, sweat, and feces. Lead is also stored in bones. It can take decades for lead stored in the bones to decrease.

Many things affect how a child’s body handles exposure to lead, including the following:

• Child’s age
• Nutritional status
• Source of lead exposure
• Length of exposure the child was exposed
• Presence of other underlying health conditions

Although lead in blood represents only a portion of the total amount of lead present in the body, a blood lead test is the best way to assess a person’s exposure to lead.