How to Detect Lead Poisoning

With all the stories in the news about lead poisoning, you wonder if you may have been exposed to lead. You know lead is hard to detect so you may not recognize exposure until you have a lot of it in your body. Use these tips to detect lead poisoning and put the worry behind you.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize short term effects or early signs such as anemia and stomach aches. Recognize the effects from long term exposure such as hearing loss, intelligence problems, attention deficit and hyperactivity. Lead can also damage tissues, enzymes and the nervous system.

• 2

  Know where you can find lead like in old paint, paint cans, old products, gas and old pipes. Realize that even items that are no longer in use can make us sick , because they are buried in landfills.

• 3

  Understand how you get lead in your body. You can drink lead if it's in the water; consume it if it's in the ground or in contaminated food and inhale it in dust and paint chips.

• 4

  Get tested at 12, 24 months and 3 to 6 years of age. Answer screening questions about exposure if you think your children have been exposed. They may be exposed if you live in an older home or spend time near anyone working with lead. Lead poisoning affects kids the most because they are still growing. It can affect their intelligence and how they do in school.

• 5

  Buy a home testing kit to test for lead. You can test objects that might contain lead by holding the object near the tester and watching the color. One color means safe and another means lead.

• 6

  Get a blood test if you think you have been exposed to lead. Testing kits show lead in an environment but not the lead that is in your body. You need a medical test to show the amount of lead in your body. Call your local health department or go to a medical lab.

• 7

  Evaluate the results of the blood tests. 10 mcg of lead or higher means you have cause for concern and need repeated testing. Any amount over 45 mcg is dangerous. The levels of mcg considered dangerous may change from state to state or province to province so check with your local health department.