Lead Poisoning
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• How Blood Lead Levels are measured, and what those numbers mean?
Lead Poisoning is Very Serious - It is now beyond dispute that lead poisoning can cause serious permanent learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, can cause seizures, coma, and even death
Children under age 6 are at greatest risk - Although lead poisoning can affect adults, it can cause far greater problems for young children, because they are still in their developmental stages, and because their bodies tend to absorb lead faster. Babies and toddlers are at the greatest risk because of their natural tendency to put things in their mouths. Although there are other sources, such as some toys, the most common source of lead in children is peeling paint chips from paint that was made with lead. There is also increasing scientific evidence that blood levels under 10 can cause substantial developmental problems in children, but this is widely disputed. Exposure is much more harmful if the child has an elevated blood lead level over a long period of time. The greatest risk is to brain development, where irreversible damage may occur.
Pregnant Women - Because lead freely crosses the placenta to the fetus, pregnant women must be aware of this danger, because the development of the baby can be put at serious risk. This also creates a problem with women who are breast feeding. Pregnant women with elevated blood levels are also at risk for spontaneous abortion, premature birth, and pregnancy related hypertension. Although adults may also feel symptoms of lead poisoning, these will not usually occur until the levels are extremely high, so most adults who have blood poisoning are not aware of it.
Signs and symptoms in children
The signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in children may include:
- Irritability
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Sluggishness
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Unusual paleness (pallor) from anemia
- Learning difficulties
How Blood Lead Levels are measured, and what those numbers mean?
A small blood sample is typically taken from a finger prick or from a vein, and if this is positive, a follow up is later done by drawing blood from a vein. Lead is tested and measured in micrograms (a microgram is 1/1,000,000 of a gram, which is far too small to felt or weighed without very special instruments). Test results say how many micrograms would be found in every deciliter, (a little less than 3 ½ ounces) of blood. In case you see this on any medical record or report with blood level test results, this is written scientifically as µg/dL, (or sometimes mcg/dL). For example, when the slip from the hospital says 10µg/dL, we say that the blood lead level is 10. Years ago, experts believed that there was no real danger until blood levels reached 20 or more, but According to the Centers for Disease Control, (CDC), levels of 10 or higher are dangerous for children. The New York City Health Code was changed in 1992 to legally define lead poisoning legally as any blood level at this lead levels at this level or higher, (24 RCNY § 11.03), and in New York City, any doctor or hospital is required to report any blood level of 5 or higher to the NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene within 24 hours.
How often should testing be done?
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends having your child tested for lead poisoning at 6 months and then yearly if your home contains lead paint, or if you're exposed to lead at work or use lead in a hobby.
Lead paint
In 1978, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the sale of lead-based paints for use in residences, children's toys and household furniture. It is assumed that all residential apartment buildings built before 1960 were painted with lead based paint, which was in very common use at that time, before the hazards were widely known.
Complications in children
Health problems in children caused by elevated blood lead levels may include:
- Nervous system and kidney damage
- Learning disabilities
- Speech, language and behavior problems
- Poor muscle coordination
- Decreased muscle and bone growth
- Hearing damage
The primary treatment for mild lead poisoning is to stop the exposure. Removal of the source of lead is critical to reducing blood lead levels.
For more severe cases, your doctor may recommend treatment called chelation (pronounced kee-la-shun) therapy in addition to removal from the source of the lead exposure. In chelation therapy, the medicine (chelating agent) you take binds with the lead so that it's excreted out of the body in your urine. Doctors may treat some Class III cases and many Class IV cases with the oral drug succimer (dimercaptosuccinic acid).
Doctors treat lead levels greater than 45 µg/dL of blood, which fall into Class IV or V, with a chemical called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). EDTA is administered through injections in your veins (intravenously) and may be combined with the drug dimercaprol (BAL). Depending on your lead level, you may need more than one treatment. The therapy may not reverse damage that already has occurred in cases of severe lead intoxication.
Children with lead toxicity may also be iron deficient. Such children are usually tested for iron deficiency and treated with iron supplements, if needed.
What should I do if My Child may have Lead Poisoning?
You should call our offices immediately. It is critical in these cases that we bring an expert into the apartment to test for the presence of lead in the paint. The defense will always claim that the lead exposure came from sources outside the apartment, and is therefore not the landlord's fault. To win your case, we have to prove that the lead came from inside the apartment, and this may be difficult without an qualified expert who did testing right away and who can testify in court. Normally, if your child has a test result with any significant amount of lead, the City will send someone to the apartment to test for lead, but the tests done by the City inspectors may have problems and cannot always be relied upon to stand up in court. When the City comes to inspect the apartment, they will normally send the landlord a notice that he has to "abate", which means to remove the lead. We need to do our own testing before the landlord begins to remove the lead.
Disclaimer: These materials are intended to help explain some of the principles and concepts involved in these types of cases. Please remember that these are general rules, all of which involve exceptions which would be impossible to detail on this or any other website. In the same way that a doctor cannot give medical advice without examining the patient, the attorney cannot give legal advice without an opportunity to interview the client or the witnesses, and to review the documents involved in the case. Therefore, while we hope these materials are helpful, please remember that they are not intended as a substitute for legal consultation, and they cannot be taken as legal advice.
