Local and Peninsula human services and health professionals learned unsettling facts about lead poisoning and its implications for the Coastside, at the June 13 Human Services Forum meeting in Half Moon Bay.
Speaker Alicia Goldstein, coordinator of the San Mateo County Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, discussed the effects of lead poisoning and explained why children and the local Hispanic population are at risk.
Lead, commonly present in our environment, does not belong in the human body. It can be found in drinking water that travels through pipes with lead solder; in industrial jobs where dust clings to clothing or hands; old toys or furniture with lead-based paint; in ceramics with lead glazes or leaded-crystal tableware, and on houses painted before 1978 and the soil surrounding them. It reaches the Hispanic population through folk medicines such as "greta" or "azarcon" and in imported housewares like metal tortilla makers or bean pots. It can get in the body through the mouth or through breathing.
A person may have lead poisoning even if he/she does not look or act sick. Kids are most susceptible since their growing bodies absorb lead easily and they are apt to eat bits of peeled paint or to put dirty fingers in their mouths. In the same environment, children can absorb up to three or four times more lead than adults.
Lead poisoning in children can damage the brain and nervous system, cause behavior and learning problems, slow growth, and cause headaches. Adults can experience reproductive problems in both men and women, pregnancy trouble, nerve or digestive trouble, concentration problems or muscle or joint pain.
The county prevention program, said Goldstein, has logged 77 cases of lead poisoning countywide since its 1992 inception, of which nine were Coastside kids under age 6.
Kids up to age 6 should have a blood test for lead poisoning. Medi_Cal covers most such tests and the county program can help families apply for help covering tests though the state- and federally-funded Child Health and Disability Prevention Program.
"Treatment" for lead poisoning consists of removal from exposure and diet changes, Goldstein said. At home, you can clean up paint chips, dust with a wet mop, stop use of home remedies, use plastic tableware and do not cook with pottery. Shower and wash clothes after exposure to lead, keep play areas clean and prevent kids from nibbling on paint chips. And since kids with good diets absorb less lead, serve foods high in calcium like lowfat milk, cheese, broccoli, dark green leafy vegetables and corn tortillas, and high in iron like lean meats, dried beans, fruit and dark green vegetables.
Home paint inspection can determine if lead is present. "Lead swabs," which can be bought at Home Depot, are a simple test for ceramics for the presence of lead.
For further information about lead poisoning or testing, call the prevention program at (415) 573-2335.