The Get a Head Start on Lead project is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The purpose of the project is to educate the entire New Jersey Head Start community – parents, children, teachers, and staff – about why it is important to prevent children from being poisoned by lead and ways to protect our children.

Johnson & Johnson originally provided the resources to support the Lead Free New Jersey project that provided the Head Start Association with funds to develop this Teachers’ Guide. It has been modified and expanded by an exciting partnership that was formed to design and implement the Get a Head Start on Lead project. The partnership consists of the New Jersey Head Start Association, the Department of Human Services Office for Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lead Poisoning Prevention Education Program.

The lessons presented in this guide are intended to be suggested activities for teaching the parents of children about lead poisoning prevention. If you have a lesson you found worked, please send your suggestion to the New Jersey Head Start office at 1440 Pennington Road, Trenton, New Jersey 08618. If your prefer, you can also contact Dr. Joan Cook Luckhardt regarding your suggestions at (FAX) 609-566-6208 or at UMDNJ, Suite 200 PCC, 40 East Laurel Rd., Stratford, NJ 08084.

1. Awareness about the dangers of Lead Poisoning, pg. 4

B. Awareness about the sources of lead in homes, pg. 15

C. Steps to help to reduce exposure to lead

2) Teach your child to wash his or her hands, pg. 20

3) Provide healthy food high in calcium and iron, pg. 23

4) Run the water before you drink it or use it for cooking, pg. 31.

5) Have children wipe their feet before they come inside, pg. 33.

6) Get your child tested EACH CALENDAR year for lead from six months to six years, pg. 39.

1. Find lead
2. Maintain the house
3. Cleaning

1. Check on Lead in Water, pg. 58.
2. Provide a safe area to play, pg. 61.
3. Don't bring your work home with you if you work at a job where there is lead. Keep your hobbies lead-safe. pg. 63
4. Buy lead-safe toys and goods. Pg. 67

D. Appendix:

Sources Handbook

Educational Resources

Lead Services Handbook

Flyers

For Instructors:

To inform parents about the dangers of lead and the sources of lead. If there is not enough time for both themes, then break up the presentations into two sessions.

Questions that will be answered in the presentation on the dangers of lead

• Why is lead a problem?

• How much lead is too much lead?

The following pages give information about lead hazards and their effect on health. You can use the information when you prepare your lessons. There is plenty of information to choose from here. Choose the parts important to your audience. In addition to the information are activities for parents to do with their children. These may reinforce what teachers are teaching in the classroom; or sometimes may be what parents can teach to their children. Other parent activities help to make a home safer from lead.

Lead affects many parts of the body. Lead affects blood formation, kidneys, bones, reproductive organs and the nervous system. This may happen without symptoms. Both adults and children are affected. Adults can become infertile, have miscarriages, kidney failure, experience irritability and become short tempered, and experience loss of libido (sex drive).

Lead can affect human reproduction. Lead toxicity can cause permanent brain damage, damage nerves, anemia, and hypertension. In extreme cases, exposure to lead at high doses can lead to irreversible brain damage, behavioral impairment, coma, convulsions, and even death. Lead toxicity shows itself most often in the nervous system, red blood cells, and kidneys.

For educators, the neurological damage attracts most attention because children's behavior and ability to think are permanently damaged by lead exposure.

Lead can cause serious permanent damage at levels much lower than was thought just a few years ago. The potential effects are listed below. Effects can vary, depending on how much lead was absorbed, how long a person was exposed, when treatment started, and the course of treatment.

Damage from lead increases as lead levels in the body rise. The numbers stand for the micrograms of lead in each deciliter of blood, a way of measuring very small amounts of lead. A deciliter equals about a cup and a half. In children, learning problems may start with 10 micrograms of lead in a deciliter of blood (10 mcg/dL). That's equivalent to a marble-sized piece of lead in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.*

*Analogy from the Dallas Morning News /93

Both adults and children are harmed by exposure to lead. Because children are smaller than adults, less lead can affect them more. Children's brains continue to develop after birth until about the age of seven. In the adult, brain damage is usually temporary, or occurs at doses so high that death is imminent. In children a blood lead level above 10 mcg/dL is a level of concern.

Children are the most vulnerable to lead exposure from birth to about three years of age. During this period lead exposure can lead to permanent brain damage. Most medical people are most concerned with children between 12 months and 36 months because they explore the world with their mouths.

Between 5% and 9% of all American children have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Over 25% of African-American children have elevated levels of lead in their blood, while about 17% of Hispanic children have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Children who are poor and who live in urban areas are at highest risk for lead poisoning.

Neurological damage can occur before birth, too. Recent studies now demonstrate that the developing fetus can be exposed to lead from their mother's body. Low doses of lead in utero can cause a loss of IQ to the fetus. Women of reproductive age need to become aware of the dangers of exposure to lead during pregnancy.

Lead has no known biological value in the body. Thus, lead is considered a contaminant in the body. The question then becomes how much lead causes what kind of damage? Some scientists believe that it may be difficult to determine all the subtle damage lead may do to body systems because lead was used by people before written history existed. Humans living today are exposed to 500 times more lead than were ancestors living in prehistoric times.

The amount of lead thought to damage the body continually declines as new research shows physical damage at lower levels of exposure. The level of concern was defined at 10 mcg/dL by the Centers for Disease Control. Currently in New Jersey, children are put into medical management if their blood lead level is above 20 mcg/dL. Adults with 40 mcg/dL blood lead level are removed temporarily from jobs that expose them to lead.

Lead toxicity is determined by the amount of lead in the blood. The usual measure of toxicity is by micro grams of lead compared to a deciliter of blood (mcg/dl). Blood lead levels above 120 mcg/dl in adults and above 100 mcg/dl in children have been associated with acute toxicity of the central nervous system. The more lead in the blood, the more likely health was damaged. In children, lower exposures cause the nervous system, including the brain, to function less well. There may not be symptoms of lead toxicity at the lower levels.

The only way to know if a child has lead poisoning is through a blood lead test. All children between the ages of six months and six years should be tested for lead each year.

Health departments require a blood test to test for lead. There are two ways that the blood can be drawn for a lead test. One method is to take blood from the vein, or a venous blood test. The other method is to draw blood from the tip of a finger, usually the index finger. This is called a capillary sample.

Some physicians prefer to take blood from the finger because little children also have little veins, which can be hard to find. With a capillary test, children may fuss less. However, a capillary sample is more easily contaminated with dirt from the tip of the finger or dirt from under the fingernail. Venous samples usually get less contamination. If results from a capillary sample show an elevated level of lead in the blood, a second, venous sample is taken to confirm the capillary results. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services requires that a blood-lead sample be taken from a vein.

Children from all socio-economic levels can suffer the effects of lead exposure. Many studies show that middle class children with elevated lead levels have about a 5-point decrease in verbal IQ when compared to similar children with lower blood lead levels. A five-point IQ difference may seem small, but this is deceptive. For the group of lead burdened children IQ scores under 80 triple. In that same group IQs higher than 125 virtually disappear.

In another study, children with higher leads were seven (7) times more likely to drop out of school and six (6) times more likely to suffer reading delays when compared with lower lead children.

Disruptive behaviors and attention deficits can also result from lead exposure. Dr. Bellinger of Harvard studied children who were exposed to lead in the womb and followed their development throughout their early childhood. He and his staff collected 12,000 umbilical cords and measured the blood lead level of each cord. He noted that children with lower IQ scores had higher umbilical cord blood lead. But the lead level was much lower than previously had been thought to cause developmental delays. The cord blood lead levels were as low as 15 to 20 mcg/dl. The lead burdened children did less well on developmental tests. When they entered school, teachers judged the behavior of the lead burdened children as more distractible, hyperactive, and disruptive, and with attention deficits.

Lead enters the body from lead particles in the air or lead particles in dust. Lead can be swallowed with food. It then enters the stomach and gut where it is absorbed; or it can be breathed into the lungs and enters the bloodstream. Some lead is excreted, but lead also enters the bone where it is stored until it is mobilized and re-enters the bloodstream during pregnancy or by chelating agents (chemicals that draw lead from the body) administered to remove lead from the body. How lead damages bodily systems requires more research.

Decide how much time you have to give an overview of the dangers of lead exposure. The presentation listed below takes about 30 minutes (an additional 10 minutes should be allotted if there are to be questions).

Give words of welcome

GET THE LEAD OUT:

This package is available in the programs. The Health Coordinator should have a package. It was developed with Concerned Parents for Head Start.

A. VIDEO TAPE

B. PRINT MATERIALS

1. Background articles include:

C. An audio tape:

D. "Miss Lead", a comic book for teens, parents, and youngsters, shows a trip throughout a home with Miss Lead pointing out unexpected sources of lead.

E. "Miss Lead's Activity Book" is available for photocopying.

Introduce the subject with a checklist. The checklist contains questions that if answered yes show a risk for lead exposure. The answers follow the questions.

1. Our home was built before 1960. _____

2. Our house/apartment has chipped, cracked or peeling paint. ______

3. Our home is near factories that emit lead, or an

incinerator, or a hazardous waste site containing lead. _____

4. Our home has lead pipes or lead-soldered copper pipes. _____

5. Lead is present in our drinking water above 15 ppm. _____

6. We use shiny glazed earthenware or pottery for food storage or for

serving meals (especially imported pottery from Mexico or Italy). _____

7. Our home is adjacent to a major highway built before 1986. _____

8. Family members work in jobs where they are exposed to

lead (battery plants, automotive work, electronics,

stained glass soldering, etc.) _____

9. In our home some family members do hobbies that use lead (making

bullets, fishing sinkers/weights, or making lead molded

soldiers). _____

10. We buy cans that are lead soldered or store food in cans after opening the can. _____

11. We eat a lot of fried foods, and are not able to get many fresh fruits or vegetables. _____

12. My child very often puts non-food items in his or her mouth. _____

13. My child plays with old lead toys, pewter, or old keys. _____

14. Other children living in our home have elevated blood-lead levels. _____

Lead is everywhere in the New Jersey environment. In 1988, more than 1.4 million pounds of lead were released into the New Jersey environment. This figure includes air emissions, disposal to water, land, or waste transported off-site. But the major source of lead is in the dust in child's home from lead-based paint applied inside or on the outside of the home. Another possible major source of lead is in soil and dust around the home.

Parents need to know where the lead is in their home so that they can protect their children. Lead in the home comes from deteriorating lead-based paint applied inside or outside a home built prior to 1978, when lead was banned in paint for residential use. If the home was built before 1960, there is a 90% likelihood of lead in the paint. Many homes built before 1978 that contain lead-based paint have had non-leaded paint applied over the layers containing lead. When that paint deteriorates and separates from the substrate (what the paint was applied to) then the lead becomes a hazard.

It is important for parents to learn that just because a home contains lead, does not make the lead in paint a hazard. The paint must be deteriorating in order to have the lead mix in with household dust. The paint might also be peeling, chipping or weathering (chalking).

Likelihood where lead can be in a home. If there is lead in a home, then different parts of a room have different possibilities of containing lead.

• There is over a 50% likelihood that it will be in paint on windows, trim and sills; on any metal railings, doors and trim, radiators, and stair trims.
• There is a 34-50% likelihood of lead in paint on crown molding.
• There is a 25-33% likelihood of lead in paint on metal windows, air/heat vents.

• There is over a 50% likelihood that lead will be in paint on the windows, columns, porch railings and floors.
• There is a 35-50% likelihood of lead in paint on exterior walls, doors.
• There is a 25-to 33% likelihood of lead in paint on metal window trims and sills and on the soffit and fascia.

Lead becomes a hazard when it breaks into particles that mix with household dust and children and animals are exposed to the lead in dust. The lead in paint breaks up through activities in the home such as the lowering or raising of windows, running up or down painted stairs, a door opening or closing, or the deterioration of interior or exterior paint resulting from moisture causing the paint to peel, crack, or chalk.

Any impact (stairs), friction (doors, windows) surfaces create dust through normal wear and tear on the house. Moisture damage greatly will increase the amount of lead in the dust because the walls and wood work crack.

Areas that grind or pound paint include, doors, windows, stairs, or baseboards, wainscoting, and moldings. The opening and closing of windows grinds the paint. The sash rubs against the frame. The trim stops the window from falling into the room. The window frame rubs against the stop and the jam. This grinds the paint into small particles. Many window stops, wells, and jams are painted. The more paint that is available for rubbing, the more dust is created.

The door is another area that can rub or pound paint surfaces together, creating lead particles. The parts of the door include the doorstop, door jam, molding (casing), door. The worst place for most doors is the crushing on the hinge side. When a door closes it can crush the paint, and forms lead particles. The only place where the door should make contact is on the latch side near the latch.

When a window is opened and closed the sash rubs against the frame (jam) and the stop. The friction causes the paint on each member to grind the paint into small particles that mingle with the dust. In professionally painted older homes the inside window track was NOT painted because it would cause the window to stick. However, most amateur painters, or homeowner painted windows the window tracks are painted; therefore there is more chance of creating lead dust.

Walls fail when there are structural problems such as when supporting beams fail. The structure of the plaster and lath is called the substrate. This could be could be paneling; substrate can also be the structure if it is cinderblock or brick. If the substrate is failing, then the paint may fail, or delaminate. Delamination can be caused because the substrate was not prepared well enough. When that is not done, the top layer of paint will come off.

Paint on the exterior of a home can crack, chalk, or peel. One of the features of lead in paint was the oxidation of lead. Oxidation of lead allowed the paint to chalk or weather more slowly. Chalking on exterior surfaces, provided a way for the rain to wash off part of the paint film. The chalking kept the surface looking fresh and clean. Chalking occurs more often on the side of the building which faces the elements--such as the side that peels more often or faces the effects of moisture. Thus, in some areas there may be a lot of lead in to soil from the weathering of house paint while the siding may be without paint. Old paint chips and particles will accumulate along the drip line of the house.

The ways to reduce exposure in the home to leaded paint include targeted cleaning of areas likely to accumulate leaded paint, regular maintenance to reduce moisture, friction, and/or impact on leaded surfaces, and interim soil controls.

1. Guest speakers and demonstration of lead in the home.

The guest speakers are available from the International Youth Organization of Newark (in late October or early November) or from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Lead Poisoning Prevention Education and Training Program.

Ask a local health department lead sanitarian to give a lecture to parents on the location of lead in the home.

Ask a local legal services lawyer who specializes in tenant-landlord cases to give a talk on where lead is at in the home.

Available from San Francisco, a community made videotape on where the sources of lead are.

A video on home maintenance tips is available from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (609) 566-6225 or from Rutgers University.

Have parents list where in the home they might find lead. Have them discuss their answers. The NJ Department of Health and Senior Services has a home check list that sanitarians use to find lead in a home. Ask your local health department for a copy.

Lead is a heavy metal that has been used for centuries to help stabilize and add weight to other elements. It has been added to paint, gasoline, glazes on pottery, crayons and chalk, make-up, pipe solder, and virtually hundreds of other common products. Unfortunately, while lead has been banned from many produces, it can still be found in many places.

Lead is toxic and infants and young children are particularly sensitive to the poisonous effects of lead because their neurological systems are still developing. Children become lead poisoned because they put a lot of non-edible products into their mouths and often swallow them. Because they are on the ground a lot, young children are likely to see what dirt and lead paint chips taste like. Most children do not like the taste or texture of dirt and soon learn not to eat them. Lead paint, however, has a sweet taste, so children are more likely to keep eating them. Very, very small amounts of lead (add drawing here), are strong enough to cause serious health and neurological problems in young children.

The objective of this lesson is to teach children when and how to wash their hands. This will help them reduce the amount of lead on their hands, how much they ingest, and to remove germs. The main theme of the lesson is:

Good hand washing is the most effective way to prevent poisoning and disease.

1. Learn the steps in hand washing:

• wet hands,
• apply soap,
• rub tops and sides, between the fingers, and palms,
• rinse, and
• dry.

1. Learn when to wash hands:

Wash your own hands to show your children how important washing is.

Wash your children's hands

• before eating
• after using the toilet
• after working or playing
• before preparing food
• after stroking your pet
• before nap and bedtime

Make hand washing fun. Use toys, bubbles, cute scrubbies, molded soaps. Show children how to use a brush to scrub under fingernails.

If children are nail-biters or put non-food items into their mouths, find ways to encourage them to keep their hands out of their mouths. Reward them and/or praise them when they keep their hands and fingers out of their mouths.

A game you can use to reinforce training for hand washing is to use a cinnamon and oil mix. The smell of the cinnamon will remain if children do not wash their hands well.

For the hand washing, put about 3/4-1 inch of oil in a 2" half-size steam table pan. Have the children put their hands in it, just to get oil all over the hands. Then they take their hands out, let some of the oil drip off, and pour cinnamon over them. Have the children wash their hands. A good job (using soap and water; rubbing between the fingers and front and back) should remove the oil and cinnamon.

To teach children that eating the right foods will help to keep them from being poisoned by lead and will keep them healthy.

Diets high in calcium and iron help children absorb less lead. While reducing lead in a child’s environment is the best protection against lead exposure and poisoning, healthy foods help protect as well. So, it is extremely important that they learn what should be eaten and what shouldn’t. Also, as discussed in the previous lesson, children touch many non-food items that may have lead and other harmful substances on them. They then put their fingers in their mouths and ingest whatever is on their hands. Keeping hands out of their mouths will also help children from ingesting lead.

The main theme of the lesson is:

Eat foods that are high in calcium and iron.

• Yogurt
• Milk (or milk substitute)
• Ice cream
• cheese

1. Protein is important to a child's growth and development and helps the body to get rid of waste products. Show the children where different foods that are high in protein come from, e.g., chicken and eggs; cows and meat, etc.

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fish (sardines too)
• Beans (partial protein)

Vegetables and fruit are filled with lots of vitamins and minerals that also help to protect children’s bodies. Show children how different vegetables and fruits grow. Spinach is particularly easy to grow:

You will need:

• Spinach seeds
• Sandy dirt (can get at garden shops)
• Paper cups with small holes at the bottom (6 to 8 ounces)
• Saran wrap

Your child can work with others or you to fill a cup about ¾ full with the dirt. Have them put 4-6 seeds into the cup and cover with dirt. Slowly water the cups, making sure that the topsoil isn’t dislodged. Stop when the water seeps through the small holes in the bottom. Lightly cover the cups with the saran wrap and place the cups on a windowsill. Check the cups everyday. (If it looks like it is too moist in the cups, remove the saran wrap.) In about 10 days to 2 weeks, the seeds should germinate and start sending up green leaves. Once the green leaves appear, remove the saran wrap. Water when the soil feels dry. When the spinach is large enough, you can show the children the center veins that help carry "food" throughout the leaf just like our blood "tubes."

• Spinach (high in iron) and other leafy vegetables
• Lettuce
• Carrots (root vegetables)
• Grains and carbohydrates, such as bread and rolls, particularly those made with fortified wheat, and pasta.

Take your pre-school children shopping with you on short shopping trips. Ask them which foods are healthy to eat. This will reinforce what they learned at school. Praise them when they choose healthy foods, particularly when they choose fruits and vegetables, and foods low in fat.

Keep dirt out of your mouth (don’t eat dirt)

Keep your hands out of your mouth

Keep toys out of your mouth

• Make sure that children eat foods from the 4 major food groups:(1) vegetables and fruit, (2) Meat and Fish, (3) Breads and Pastas, and (4) Dairy Products.

• Make sure children eat at least 3 meals a day. A child's stomach will absorb more lead when it is empty.

• Avoid fatty foods, which lets their bodies absorb lead faster. Follow these hints to avoid fatty foods.

To avoid fatty foods, make sure you:

• broil, bake or boil your foods: avoid frying foods.

• buy lean meats and trim off the fat.

• avoid potato chips, French fries, pastries, donuts.

• use less oil, butter, lard, bacon, or salt pork in cooking.

To avoid getting lead in food:

Avoid putting food in old glass containers

Avoid cooking in old or terra cotta pots (may contain lead glazes).

Celery stuffed with mashed beans and topped with cheese

Banana dipped in orange juice, then rolled in crushed high iron cereal (You can prepare these ahead of time and freeze them for a cool snack on a summer’s day.)

Iron-fortified oatmeal, served with milk and raisins

Turkey breast slice wrapped around a cheese stick

Pear or peach, cut in half, and topped with yogurt or cottage cheese and raisins

Tortilla filled with cooked beef, chicken or turkey, or mashed beans. Top with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes

Whole grain waffle with applesauce

Bean dip served with vegetable sticks

Low-fat yogurt mixed with fresh fruit or drained canned fruits

Vegetable dips made with low-fat yogurt and fresh herbs and garlic. Use broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots and other vegetables for dipping.

Salmon salad served on crackers or wholewheat bread.

Frittata or omelet with cooked greens mixed in and topped with grated cheese.

Harvest toast made with toasted whole wheat bread, topped with a sliced apple and grated cheese and then broiled briefly.

Other good sources of calcium and iron as well as Vitamin C (helps to protect your child from catching a cold) are:

Orange juice Green pepper sticks

Tomato juice Broccoli spears

Orange slices Kiwi

Grapefruit sections Strawberries

Most of the snack ideas come from The Developmental Disabilities Program/People, Inc., New York State Take the Lead Out of Children Coalition.

Lead may be found in water that has not been used for eight hours or longer. This happens in older homes where the plumbing pipes contain lead solder. In fact, the word "plumbing" comes from the Latin (Roman) word for lead (plumbum). If water sits overnight or longer than 8 hours in pipes containing lead, the lead may "leach" into the water.

Running the water in the morning for a minute or until the temperature has changed will "flush" the water out of the line. It is important to "flush" the water before getting a glass of water or getting water to make baby formula. Once the water is flushed, it can be used immediately. Flushing the standing water from the plumbing brings in the lead-safe water from the water main.

The primary theme of this lesson is:

In the morning, show your child how to run the water run until the temperature changes.

NOTE: the best method is to have children count to 15 or 30 before getting a glass of water in the morning, but pre-schoolers usually lack counting skills.

• OR use a real sink

• egg timer (if available)

Have the children pretend that they just woke up in the morning. Have the children pretend to run the water while the egg timer (a 30-second timer) counts for them. Ask them if they noticed the water temperature change? They have tried this at school , now you can ask them to try this at home, too.

This lesson can be used to reinforce the sessions on handwashing, running the water, and not putting non-edible foods in their mouths. Have each child pick out a favorite washable, plastic toy. If there is a sink in the room, let the water run for 30 seconds while the children count or sing. Then have each child wash the toy and his/her hands.

Wipe up.

Thank them for doing such a good job.

Activity:

Children may have made doormats in class. If not, you can have parents help children make doormats at home. If cloth is not available at home, have the children make a doormat from a cardboard box top or cardboard.

• Heavy poster board (You can cut them in half so you can get two from each board
• Pieces of heavy cloth
• Childproof scissors

• Glue

• Crayons and magic markers

You can also have parents place the doormats by the door at home and discuss why we wipe our shoes before coming inside.

• Demonstrate wiping feet outside.

• Help children make storage mats for their shoes and place it near the door.
• Children can keep slippers near the door and change into slippers while in the house.

Paint chips containing lead taste sweet. Also, toddlers may eat paint chips because they put things into their mouths during this developmental stage. Helping to redirect the toddler’s attention and 0help them avoid paint chips may reduce poisonings. Older brothers and sisters can keep the toddler safer by keeping the toddler away from paint chips. Children with PICA behavior, or putting non-food items in the mouth more often than is usual, should be watched more closely. PICA behavior is very common among children with developmental delays, so these children need constant supervision.

In class, children may have learned to make cleaning puppets to help keep down dust.

The best way to clean the house to gather the lead chips and to keep the lead dust down is to mop the house with a damp mop and dust with a damp rag. Explain to the children what sweeping (mopping) and damp dusting are and demonstrate how to clean.

Make puppets and have the children act out cleaning and what to do if there is chipping paint in their homes.

Materials:

White ankle socks

Magic Markers

Felt or other materials

Paste

1. Give each child a sock and a magic marker and have them draw a face.
2. They can help to dust--remember to have them dampen the "puppet" sock before lightly dusting.

Below is the reinforcement sheet sent home when the lessons were taught in class. Please tell the parents to help the teacher when they receive this classroom note.

Dear Parent/Caregiver:

Today your child heard the story, Little ___________ Goes Exploring. The purpose of the story was to review with children the problem of lead poisoning and help them to understand where lead is most often found around the house:

• In leaded paint

• In household dust
• In the soil outside

The story also talks about:

• The importance of handwashing.
• The importance of wet mopping and damp dusting homes to keep the house free from dust.
• The importance of letting water run until it is cold to remove water that has lead in it.

Tonight, to help your child act on this lesson, please take a few minutes to:

• Ask your child about the story.

Thank you.

Teacher

Dear Parents/Caregiver:

Please fill out this form and return it with your child tomorrow.

Last night we talked about keeping our home free of lead dust and paint chips and the importance of washing our hands to prevent lead poisoning.

Parent/Caregiver

Usually there are no symptoms of lead poisoning. The only way to know if a child is lead poisoned is to test the child for lead. About 17% of Hispanic and about 28% of African-American children in the US have elevated blood-lead levels. Across the nation nearly 2 million children are poisoned by lead. On average, about 9 % of children under age six have elevated blood lead levels (NHANES II). Children living in urban areas have a higher risk of poisoning because there is more lead there. Children who are poor and minority are more likely to be poisoned.

Children living in urban areas or have other risks for poisoning should be tested each calendar year for lead. The theme of this lesson is to prepare the children for their lead test so that they can say:

Play "Going to the Doctors." Have children tell you and act out what happens when they go for a doctor’s visit.

After children have their blood tests, praise them and thank them. Tell them that now

They are lead safe! They had their lead test!"

Or

They are going to be lead free! They had their lead test! (For children who are found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood).

On the following page is a letter that may be sent home by the teacher.

Dear Parent/Caregiver:

Today our class completed the lessons on lead poisoning and how to prevent it. Your child has been awarded a certificate as a "Lead Poisoning Prevention Helper."

Your child may be too young to understand the effects of lead poisoning upon his/her body. However, you should understand that lead poisoning can harm a child and affect his/her ability to learn and grow. Lead poisoned children may have difficulty concentrating, may be slow learners or be hyperactive. Some children never show the symptoms of lead poisoning so it is very important to have your child tested by your health care provider at least once a year.

Thank you for your help as we all WORK TOGETHER TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING.

Teacher

Perhaps a child has been diagnosed or you are concerned that a child may have lead poisoning. Lead poisoning has been associated with IQ defects, behavior disorders, slowed growth and impaired hearing. Impairment of mental function can occur at levels greater than 10 mcg per deciliter, although no clinical symptoms are seen. About one in six children in the United States have high levels of lead in their blood. Lead may be in and around a child's home without parents even knowing it. You cannot see, taste, or smell lead. Lead may be found in dust, paint, soil, drinking water and food. The body cannot break down lead naturally; therefore, it can build up inside the body and result in serious health problems, especially to children.

Any child with a blood level greater than 10 mcg/dL (micrograms per deciliter) is considered to have lead toxicity. The best way to manage lead toxicity is to remove lead from the child's environment to reduce the child's exposure. Methods to reduce exposure to lead were previously discussed.

Blood lead screening should be a part of routine health care for all children. Because lead is found in the environment, screening should occur between 9 and 12 months of age. If possible, screening should be repeated at 24 months. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has proposed that children living in low risk communities for lead poisoning may not need screening. The CDC, however, has not given guidance on determining a community's risk. As more data is available in the future, selective screening for those children at risk may be more appropriate than routine screening.

Lead testing should definitely be performed on any child who has the following symptoms or disorders. The disorders accompany ingesting more lead. These are developmental delay, learning disabilities, behavior disorder, autism, convulsions, iron deficiency anemia, intestinal parasitic infections, speech and hearing deficits, encephalopathy (swelling of the brain), recurrent vomiting or recurrent abdominal pain. All children who are on Medicaid, live in inner city areas or urban areas, or are minorities, are at higher risk.

First, the child's physician will classify a child as either low risk or high risk based on the child's possible lead exposure as determined from the history. All children on Medicaid are considered as high risk. Children 6-36 months old should be initially tested at 12 months, and even earlier if at high risk. In New Jersey all children are to be tested for lead between 12 and 18 months of age; and again between 18 months and 36 months. Head Start requires a lead test annually.

Those at low risk with levels less than 10 mcg/dL should be retested at 24 months up to 36 months. If the level is still less than 10 mcg/dL, no further testing is necessary. The child should also be tested for iron deficiency and household lead exposures should be evaluated.

Children at high risk should be tested every 6 months until two consecutive tests are found to be less than 10 mcg/dL or three are less than 15 mcg/dL. Then, annual screening should be done thereafter until 72 months of age. If initial levels are found to be 10-14 mcg/dL, retesting should be done every 3-4 months until two consecutive tests are less than 10 mcg/dL or three are less than 15 mcg/dL. Retesting should then be done every year.

Many traditional tests for lead poisoning are unnecessary. Abdominal x-rays are only useful if a sudden high amount of lead is swallowed or if very high blood lead levels continue for a long time. Lead lines on bone x-rays or basophilic stippling of red blood cells may be associated with chronic high levels of lead exposure. However even these signs can be absent in some serious lead exposures. Testing of hair and nails for lead is not recommended because they are subjected to environmental contamination and do not accurately reflect blood lead levels.

A series of blood lead levels provide the best information about a child's lead exposure.

If a child has a blood lead level greater than 20 mcg/dL and the source of exposure is in the home, other children in the household should also be tested. If the exposure is believed to be elsewhere, such as a child care center, school, playgrounds or a home of a babysitter, that area should be tested for lead contamination. All children in those environments found to be contaminated with lead should also be tested.

Chelation therapy may be used if a child has a blood lead level of greater than 25 mcg/dL. Chelation therapy is usually done when lead levels are greater than 45 mcg/dL.

Reduction in the blood lead level has been successful with chelation therapy, but there is no data available on improvement or prevention of cognitive delay. CHELATION THERAPY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR REMOVING A CHILD FROM EXPOSURE. Actions must be taken to minimize the child's exposure to lead.

Four chelating agents are typically used: edetate calcium disodium, dimercaprol, penicillamine, or succimer. Chelation therapy works by binding to the lead in the blood and speeds its excretion via the urine. The drawback to chelation therapy is that other metals besides lead are also excreted. Metals like calcium, magnesium and zinc are essential metals that are needed by the body. Deficiencies of these important metals may result from chelation.

If the child has signs of encephalopathy (a disease affecting the brain), the treatment is usually give in a hospital setting.

Chelating agents can greatly increase gastrointestinal absorption of lead, thus increasing lead entrance into the body. Therefore, it is of great importance if a child is being treated with chelation therapy to remove the child from further lead exposure. Hospitalization during treatment may be necessary until the lead has been removed and possible lead exposure has been minimized.

The long term affects of lead in a child can be severe, including learning disabilities, decreased growth, hyperactivity, impaired hearing and even brain damage. If caught early, these effects can be limited by reducing exposure to lead or by medical treatment. If you think a child is being exposed to lead, it is important to have the child and home tested for lead. If a child has already been diagnosed with lead poisoning, please follow the advice of the child's physician.

If you have any further questions about lead poisoning, ask a physician, local health department or call 1-800-FYI-LEAD.

There are two ways to prevent lead poisoning - the removal of environmental lead and screening for elevated blood lead levels. The most effective means of preventing lead poisoning is removal of lead from the child's environment. If your child has lead poisoning, it is very important for parents to remove as much lead from the child's environment as possible to minimize lead exposure. The following summarizes the lessons learned on health and exposure.

The following steps should be taken:

1. Remove lead based paint from the home. Renovation and remodeling in the home should be done by trained and experienced professionals. The family should live somewhere else until proper clean-up is completed.

2. Control dust and paint chip debris. Wash the walls, floors and windowsills with a solution of powdered automatic dishwasher detergent in warm water twice a week. Dishwasher detergents contain high phosphate levels, which are effective in removing lead.

3. Wash pacifiers and bottles after they fall on the floor. Keep the areas where children play as dust free and clean as possible. Wash toys and stuffed animals regularly. Make sure your children wash their hands before meals, nap time, and bed time. Prevent children from eating dirt or other foreign substances.

4. Change work clothes and clean up before going home from a lead-related job. If you work in construction, demolition, painting, work with batteries or in a radiator repair shop or lead factory you may unknowingly bring lead into your home on your hands or clothes. You may also be tracking in lead from the soil around your home. Soil very close to homes may be contaminated from lead paint on the outside of the building. Soil by roads or highways may be contaminated from years of exhaust fumes from cars and trucks that used leaded gas.

5. Avoid the use of lead around the home for hobbies and other purposes.

6. Wash hands often.

7. Use cold tap water for drinking, cooking and mixing infant formula. Allow the water to run for 30-60 seconds first. Warm/hot water contains the highest amounts of lead. You cannot remove lead by boiling the water. Water usually picks up lead inside your home from household plumbing that is made with lead materials. Bathing is not a problem because the lead cannot enter the body through the skin.

8. Have your water tested for lead - it is easy and cheap ($15-25). Call your local health health department or water supplier to find out how to have your water tested.

9. Do not store food or liquid in lead crystal glassware or imported or old pottery. Do not buy or use products containing lead for food storage, or if the lead might leach into food.

Parents can help reduce the lead in the home through good home maintenance and cleaning techniques. Good home maintenance includes reducing friction areas; reducing lead in water, buying lead-free products (such as toys), and stopping peeling, chipping paint.

Home Lead test kits. These are available from hardware stores and places like Home Depot. Follow the directions in the box. Most home test kits will find lead. While most do not detect lead at very low levels in paint, the test kits will help alert parents to the presence of lead. Some states have used home test kits as a first environmental screen because the kits are relatively inexpensive. A typical kit is about $25, but can do many tests.

Other types of tests are dust wipe tests. A baby wipe is used to collect dust from a one foot square area on floors, walls, or in window troughs (wells). The baby wipe is put into a container and sent to a laboratory. The cost per test is between 5 and 10 dollars. Professionals use this test after a child is found to be lead poisoned. Detailed directions on doing a dust wipe test is available from the HUD web site [http://www.hud.gov/]. From there go to the Office of Lead Hazard Control, where there are downloadable publications.

1. Cover peeling paint with contact paper or duct tape. This helps to block exposure.
2. Put furniture in front of the area which has the peeling paint to keep toddlers from crawling near the area.
3. Seal the upper sash to reduce friction (make the upper sash so that it does not move up and down).
4. Cover stairs with carpet or linoleum runner (to reduce more impact on painted stairs).
5. Develop a maintenance plan if you own your home so that you reduce areas of friction, impact through normal repair and replacement. Ensure that potential moisture damage is reduced (get the roof fixed, the plumbing repaired, and provide proper ventilation for a dryer).
6. Cover bare soil with wood chips until grass or interim measures can be implemented. Wood chips may be an interim measure.
7. Check with your local health and housing agencies for the latest ways to address reducing lead in homes.

NOTES:

When the Outreach Worker from the Head Start program visits with the family, he or she will show homeowners/parents how to target cleaning efforts to reduce lead dust in the home. Another positive by product is that this cleaning will also help to reduce environmental hazards that tend to trigger asthma. The steps described below can be shown to the parents. Share with the tenant or property owner that these steps can be used in the whole unit. You can also demonstrate the cleaning steps in a classroom setting. Below are the steps to take to clean a home.

Lead in dust is the greatest source of lead. Most lead dust accumulates in the window troughs (window wells), and floors. Weekly damp mopping and wiping will remove the dust. Getting rid of dust will help protect children's health by removing lead and also germs. It will help reduce conditions that often cause asthma, too. Teaching families about targeted cleaning will help prevent lead poisoning!

Lead dust is very fine. Lead in dust cannot be seen. When you can see paint chips, there will be lead in dust. But if you can't see paint chips, you still might have lead in the household dust. Lead in dust comes from the breakdown of paint containing lead, lead that was deposited in soil, or from industrial emissions (smokestack releases of lead).

There are special qualities to lead in dust. Lead dust is sticky. You can't brush it off, it must be rubbed off. You must often change rags, mop heads and rinse water to keep from spreading lead around the house. Changing rags, mops and water often removes the lead from the house.

Lead dust accumulates in cracks over the lifetime of a home. You must clean the cracks---or have the cracks sealed up. After you clean cracks, sometimes the lead comes out of the cracks bringing the dust back. Vacuuming cracks helps too.

Wherever paint is peeling, cracking, or flaking, lead can mix with the household dust. When paint is exposed to moisture, it deteriorates. This happens under windows (that were left open), walls that suffered leaks (from roof or plumbing leaks), on porches, outside clapboard, bathrooms (steam from showers or plumbing leaks).

Impact or friction also causes paint containing lead to break up. When doors open and close they hit the door jam and break up old paint. Running up and down stairs creates impact on the stairs. Opening and closing windows creates friction and grinds the paint on the window. If there are storm windows, the moisture buildup causes the paint on the outside window to deteriorate. All that paint ends in the window trough.

Materials and Supplies for cleaning. (Demonstrate this for the parent and help each parent prepare a cleaning supply kit as described below or as much of the kit as they can put together.)

• Two 16 ounce cotton mop heads (one for washing, one for rinsing)
• 2 mop handles for the 16 ounce cotton mop heads
• 3 pails, one with a mop squeeze pan
• 1 cleaning cloth per window plus 2 per room (a terry cloth towel cut into 10" 10" squares works well--and can be washed)
• A box of cleaning powder such as Spic and Span or similar cleaner. (There are also cleaners designed to pick up lead dust.)
• One sponge mop with replacement heads for walls.
• Paper towels
• Latex gloves
• 1 quart plastic jug (an old container will work too).
• Vacuum cleaner with special cleaning bags (to catch lead dust)

TIPS: Referral information

• Calling the landlord or super to repair doors, windows, leaky plumbing or roof leaks.
• Keep windows closed during rainstorms (water entering the room can wet walls and cause deteriorating paint.) More information on actions that the tenant can make is contained in the NJ Legal Services booklet on lead.

Once every six to nine months:

1. Children must be out of the room where the cleaning is going on. Many people like to have the children visit with relatives or friends while the dwelling is being cleaned.

2. Remove rugs and send them to be cleaned. Wear a respirator if you are rolling up large rugs (9'x 12' for example). Professionals should clean wall-to-wall carpets containing large amounts of lead dust (if you must clean them yourself--rent steam system from rental firms, or supermarkets). Area rugs are easier to keep clean.

3. Remove curtains, drapes, and/or bed spreads for cleaning. Send to the by-the-pound cleaning (it is much cheaper). Check to see if the cloth you are sending can be dry cleaned.

4. Wash and/or wipe toys and other small objects (knickknacks).

5. Vacuum the dwelling thoroughly. If you can borrow a HEPA vacuum for cleaning, it is able to pick up dust without blowing it out the vacuum exhaust. If you use a regular vacuum cleaner, try to find vacuum bags that are made to hold small particles.

Start vacuuming at the end furthest from the front door. In each room, start on the top shelves, top of the casing, picture, chair rail, and all the parts of the window (particularly the window trough). You may want to wipe out the window trough with paper before vacuuming--if it is very dirty. Use the corner tool on the vacuum where the floor meets the baseboard and the cracks between the floorboards.

Wash surfaces in the house to remove dust that contains lead. The procedure described below helps to remove the lead and avoids spreading the lead around.

Each week wash:

• Work clothes that contain lead (avoid take-home lead from jobs that expose the worker to lead)
• Moldings, chair rails, and mantels,
• doors,
• Windows (window trough last!),
• Stairs and floors, and

• Damp dust furniture (only a very lightly dampened rag for wood furniture)

Clean each room in turn: make sure to start with clean buckets and rags.

Pour cleaning solution into a plastic jug. Dampen the cloth squares by pouring the solution on the squares. Wipe the molding, windows.

Vacuum the apartment from top to bottom.

Materials:

Put squeezer on one mop bucket, detergent in the second bucket, and rinse water in the third bucket. Use two mop heads and mops.

Choose to wash one section of the floor at a time.

Put mop in detergent bucket, then squeeze out extra detergent in the squeeze bucket and wash the area.

Rinse mop out in rinse bucket and squeeze out excess. On dirty floors you may need to wash the area more than one time. Change the rinse water often. Flush the rinse water down the toilet (make sure there are no chunks of materials that will stop up the plumbing.).

Repeat the process over another area of the floor.

When the detergent or rinse buckets get to looking dirty, change the water.

Do three to five rooms with one mop head. Keep one mop head for rinsing and one for detergent. Change mop heads every few months.

WATER PIPES in houses built before 1986, when lead was banned in potable water systems, may contain lead. Pipes connecting the city water main to the home and the interior plumbing system may be made of lead pipes or joined with lead solder. As water lies in these pipes, the liquid picks up lead particles. The reason that the chemical symbol for lead is Pb is because the Romans called lead, "plumbum." They used lead pipes to carry their water to the Roman Baths, which were usually swimming pool sized baths lined with inch or more thick sheets of lead. We derive our word plumber from this lengthy historical tradition of having used lead for our plumbing. Lead is very easily worked, molded or poured. A break in a lead pipe could be repaired by hammering out the pipe, folding the break over and hammering the fold closed--indeed, more metal could be melted at low heat and then poured over the patch to seal it even more tightly. Even "moonshiners" used this flexibility by using lead piping in the stills.

In the kitchen and bath (show the parent a picture of the kitchen, or if they invite you to tour their kitchen, show them the sources of lead in the kitchen).

If plumbing contains lead solder, lead-containing fixtures (chrome and brass faucet fixtures may contain lead), brass pump for the well, or lead pipes in plumbing, the drinking water may have elevated levels of lead. Older homes (constructed before 1930) having lead pipes or lead service mains, and newer homes (constructed after 1980, but before the 1986 ban on lead solder for potable water) having lead-soldered joints are most vulnerable to lead in drinking water.

To test the water: Use a home water test kit or get a professional.

To test the pipes: use a magnet on pipes that might be solid lead. If the magnet sticks, the pipes contain iron (either are cast iron or steel). If the pipes look like they are copper, ask when the pipes were installed. If the pipes were installed before 1985, then the pipes were probably soldered with lead solder.

If your source of water is corrosive, low mineral content and/or acidic, then water standing in pipes overnight may leach lead from lead-soldered copper pipes or other pipes containing lead.

Another source of lead in water is from brass plumbing fixtures. Most brass contains about 3 to 10% lead. This can elevate the amount of lead found in "first draw" water. Lead was once added to the copper alloy to increase the ability to cut, shaped, or drawn.

Now there are commercially available lead-free plumbing fixtures.

People living in older homes can protect their family by running the water for 30 seconds to a minute each morning before using the water. Running the water until the temperature changes usually is sufficient to clear the water. The system should also be flushed whenever the water has been standing in the pipes for several hours.

If the parent is concerned about the lead in their water have them check with the local water company to see if they had begun corrosion control to reduce lead. Help get them the phone number for their water company.

Lead in the soil around your house can contaminate both the outside and inside of your home. Most lead in the yard will be from a legacy of lead from leaded-gasoline and from the chalking, peeling, and chipping of exterior residential paint. Lead around the yard accumulates around the drip line of a home painted with exterior lead-based paint, along the yard near roadways. Homes built on former industrial sites or former outside firing ranges may also contain lead in soil. One housing development in New Jersey built on a former outside firing range that had soil that tested at over 250,000 ppm of lead in soil. The EPA guidelines recommend removal of soil that tested at over 5000 ppm.

Areas 75 feet on both sides of roads heavily traveled between 1920s and the mid-1980s are suspect for lead. Lead was added to gasoline in the mid-1920s and from that time until the introduction of the catalytic converter in the 1970s, there was an annual increase in the amount of lead added to the air from the burning of the leaded gasoline. From the mid-1970s as the use of catalytic converters grew, the use of leaded gasoline declined, not so much from desire for unleaded gasoline, but because the converters were damaged by the lead. The decline in atmospheric lead and the drop in the average blood-lead level paralleled the decrease in the use of leaded gasoline. Nevertheless, the burning of lead in gasoline added over 5 million metric tons of lead to the environment in the United States between the mid-1920s and the mid-1970s. This legacy remains on the surface of the soil. Although lead from gasoline has been found as far away as the ice caps of Antarctica, most of the lead from gasoline was deposited along roadways as lead is heavy.

With a legacy of old lead paint on buildings, and in soil along roadways there is an uneven distribution of lead on the earth's surface. Most urban soils exceed an average of 640 ppm of lead in soil. Rural and suburban areas have around 100 to 200 ppm of lead in soil unless there is an industrial or other source. In the late 1980's to early 1990s, a USHUD study carried out in 172 HUD homes found that most urban soils exceed an average of 640 ppm of lead in soil.

There are other, less often found, sources of lead. If your home in the city or suburbs was built on land once used for an outdoor firing range, a company that made ammunition or smelted lead, built on fill from mine tailings or on an old landfill, then a lead test might reveal high levels of lead in soil. Other sources of lead include lead arsenate that was used as a pesticide on orchards. Very high levels of lead in soil have been uncovered on land used as a former landfill, or former firing range.

(Note to teacher: Show a picture of where lead is likely to be in the yard, or other visual)

In the yard, the areas that are more likely to create exposure to lead contaminated soil are areas of bare soil, children's uncovered sandboxes or gardens placed near roadways or near the foundation of a lead-based painted house. The soil near the drip line of the foundation is more likely to contain high levels of lead if the exterior of the house was painted with lead-based paint.

There are a number of parent interventions that could help keep the child safe.

• Make a sandbox for children away from roadways and away from near the foundation of the home.

• Plant grass, shrubbery, or ground cover on bare soil. Or put down wood chips.

• Plant gardens in raised beds.

[Avoid Bringing lead home from your job]

Research shows that when the clothes are taken off the work site, the lead from worker's shoes, or from their clothes can spread lead to the worker's car or to laundry that it is mixed with.

Another way that lead can travel home is with hobbies. Some hobbies that may use lead are making fishing sinkers, bullets (often for Colonial or Civil War reenactments), stained glass, or sometimes pottery. Hobby areas should be away from where children play. They should be in well ventilated areas.

Recommended Interventions:

Have students share types of jobs members of their family or they have held that may have used lead. Discuss what should protect them from exposure on the job.

Share information on the nearest OSHA office.

There are many products that may contain lead. Common household items that may contain lead include painted toys or furniture, crayons, pottery. Often newer products do not contain lead, but those from our mother's or aunt's time do. When buying products ask if the item contains lead.

• Really dangerous pieces of china are fairly rare.
• The potential of dishes to leach lead into food or drink varies enormously.
• There are many different makes and kinds of china in use and no one has tested them all.
• The risks of lead exposure depend not only on the dish, but also on what the dish is used for.
• Glazed china is one of the major remaining sources of lead in the American diet.

2. POTENTIAL RISKS

• Old china, made before lead was recognized as a hazard,
• "Home-made" or "hand-crafted" china,
• highly decorated, multicolored surfaces inside dishes (the part that touches the food and drink),
• Decorations on top of the glaze, instead of beneath it, and
• Corroded glaze or a dusty or chalky residue on the glaze after the piece has been washed. THIS TYPE OF CHINA COULD BE DANGEROUS AND YOU SHOULD STOP USING IT AT ONCE.

Any combination of these factors deserves particular attention.

Many manufacturers are going to have test records for the pattern that they make. If you know the manufacturer, and are not sure of the risks, you should call and ask.

3. HOW TO Reduce the Risks?

• Don’t store food or drink in questionable china dishes.
• Don’t serve highly acid food or drink in questionable china, especially to children. Examples of acid foods and drinks: cola-type soft drinks, orange and grapefruit juice, applesauce and apple juice, tomatoes and tomato-based products, salad dressings with vinegar, tea, and coffee.
• Don’t use questionable piece of china in your everyday routine.
• Don’t heat or microwave in questionable china, since heat can speed up lead leaching.

Thus, the major factors to control are: amount of contact; acidity of food or drink; frequency of use; and heat.

4. WHAT IS SAFE?

• Clear glass dishes (except for lead crystal), without decal type decorations painted on the surface,
• Stoneware dishes, also without decal-type decorations,
• Lead-free china, and
• Certified low-lead china (china that meets the California standards, the strictest in the country).

• White china is less likely to have lead problems than highly decorated multicolored china.
• New china made by a large, well-known domestic manufacturer is unlikely to show extremely high lead leaching .

5. BEFORE YOU BUY

• Ask before you buy. You can ask the store manager, or have him ask the manufacturer. It is not good enough if the china is "legal," "meets the federal standards," or "has been inspected." Instead, ask if the company can guarantee that it meets the California standards. (A list of china that meets the California standards is available from the Environmental Defense Fund in New York City).
• In many cases you can ask the manufacturer yourself about lead in their china. (the companies that provide the phone numbers for information are listed in the article).
• It is especially important to know for sure about china that you hope to use for a lifetime (such as wedding china).
• If china that you intend to buy has not been tested for lead leaching yet, there is no reason to take the risk

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND HAS INFORMATION THAT FEATURES:

• Contacts for more info on lead risks and food.
• Lists of home test kits that you can order by mail.
• The list of china manufacturers that provide phone numbers for lead info and the numbers.
• List of china that meets the California standards.
• Contacts for more info on health impacts of lead.

FDA on lead in ceramics (from FDA Consumer/Dec.1989-Jan.1990)

• Most glazes for ceramic products contain lead but are safe because they have been properly formulated and fired to prevent the release of toxic amounts of metal into foods.
• Some pottery, especially earthenware made by individuals and in small cottage industries abroad have not been treated properly. TOURISTS BEWARE!!!!!

CPSC announced a recall of imported crayons because of a lead poisoning hazard. All of the crayons cited from Concord, Toys "R" Us, and Glory, contained enough lead to present a lead poisoning hazard to young children who might eat or chew the crayons. The crayons were manufactured in China. The retailers offered to take back the products. Purchase only crayons marked "Conforms to ASTM D-4236" or similar words.

CPSC alerted the public on vinyl miniblinds. Annually, 25 million non-glossy, vinyl miniblinds are imported from China, Taiwan, Mexico, and Indonesia. Lead was added to the plastic to stabilize the plastic during manufacture. CPSC found that in sunlight the blinds deteriorated releasing lead, which mixed with dust on the blinds. The CPSC requested that the manufacturing process be changed to omit the lead. Blinds now in homes without children did not pose a hazard. The concern was in homes that have children aged six or under. Young children were at risk because of hand to mouth activity.

October 1996 (release 97-006) Recall of 14000 Little Wood Wagon, Radio Flyer Inc. of Chicago, Ill. The wagons contain a prohibited level of lead in red painted sides that can cause lead poisoning in young children. The wagons were on sold nationwide from June 1996 to Sept. 1996 for between 20 to 25 dollars each. The wagon was about 12.5 inches by 7.5 inches by 4 ".

October 1996 Public playground equipment. Chipping peeling lead paint on playground equipment is a hazard to children six years old and younger. CPSC tested and analyzed paint from 26 playgrounds in 13 cities. Of those 16 playgrounds in 11 cities had levels of lead high enough to be a federal priority for lead hazard control measures.

March 1997 CPSC and wear Me Apparel Corp. Recall infant boys' rompers. About 30000 little Miracles TM rompers for infant boys were recalled because the paint on the rompers' cap snaps presents a potential lead poisoning hazard to young children. The paint on the cap snaps violates the ban on paint containing lead. The Little Miracles TM rompers in the recall have style number 9448 or 9449 on the reverse side of the care label. The styles are available in five sizes 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 m months, 12 months, and 18 months. K-Mart had accepted returns of the rompers.