Lead poisoning is the most preventable childhood illness in the United States according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. From birth six years of age, critical development is occurring in the brain and central nervous system of children. Lead exposure during this critical formative period can have a crippling affect on child development. Children with elevated levels of lead in their blood are at risk for serious health problems.
- Learning disabilities & Impaired IQ
- Behavioral problems
- Impaired hearing
- Neurological problems
- Kidney damage and major organ failure
- Encephalopathy (brain swelling)
- Brain damage
- Anemia
- Decreased stature and growth
- Attention deficit disorder ADHD
- Seizures
- Coma
- Death
Researchers have determined that there is a relationship between early lead exposure and subsequent decreases in IQ. In one study children were reported to have increased levels of lead in their blood were examined between the ages of two and three. Those same children were given further IQ tests between age four to eleven. Researchers determined their IQ to be from seven to ten points lower average for their age nationally. For every ten µg/dL (micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood) IQ deficits increased.
Center for Disease Control
Small
Business Insurance Plans
Return
to Insurance Articles Index
|
