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Article: Get the Lead Out - Information About Lead Toxicity
Written on 9/14/2007
Due to the recent recall of Chinese made toys we have had a flood of calls from concerned parents. Rather than let you sit at home and worry, we thought we’d pass along some information.
Mattel has voluntarily recalled nearly nine million toys because of lead based paint. This has a potential to cause problems, but remember, as this is being written, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports there has been NO actual poisoning due to the recalled products.
Lead toxicity can be a very serious problem. Historically it has occurred in older homes with lead based paint (painted prior to 1960), from folk remedies or from parents who work with lead based products. The problem occurs over a long period of time with continued ingestion. (Playing with a lead painted toy is not a concern. A child chewing on it for an extended period of time may be an issue.)
The signs of toxicity may include seizures, coma, irritability, headache, abdominal pain, and difficulty arousing without acute symptoms of illness (runny nose, sore throat, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea).
There is a blood test to detect an elevated lead level. But the real question is, what do we do with the information?
There are aggressive treatments like chelation which is only used for very high levels with sever symptoms. For almost all children with elevated lead levels, the treatment of choice is to remove the lead from the environment.
So, if you are worried about your child, first thing to do is make sure they don’t have severe symptoms (like seizures or difficulty arousing). Then remove all lead-based painted toys. For a list of recalled toys you can go to Mattel’s site (http://www.mattel.com/safety/us/) or to the consumer safety site (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html). Because of the swiftness of discovering this problem, we are not recommending testing except in extreme cases.
Mattel is doing a good job of testing the new toys before the leave the factory. The toy stores are also doing a good job of not selling toys on the recall list by either not having them on their shelves or halting the sale at the register. Local law enforcement has a patrol that is double checking this system with good reports.
If you are still worried, please make an appointment for us to see your child and discuss this with you.