Lead poisoning, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is when someone is chronically intoxicated due to the body absorbing the heavy metal. Symptoms of this type of poisoning include abdominal pain, weakening of limbs or paralysis of muscles, lack of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, and fatigue.
According to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), lead poisoning is a serious threat in the state of Ohio. While there are several potential sources in our environment - including cosmetics, foods, and contaminated soils and water - the most probable cause seems to be from lead-based paint. This is specifically a problem in houses with lead-based paint, which could be any home built prior to 1978. Not every home containing the lead-based paint is at risk of giving it's residents the poisoning. Only when the paint begins to deteriorate and becomes part of the dust that it becomes a problem. By keeping the house clean and the paint maintained, you can decrease the chance of exposure.
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| A photo of the photo-collage created by the Summit Count Public Health on their annual report. The house being worked on was originally a home with lead-based paint and its residents were found to have lead poisoning. |
To break the numbers down even further, the reports look at the confirmed levels of lead in the children tested's blood. While there isn't a "safe level" of lead, the government has stated that 5μg/dL, or 5 micrograms per deciliter, is the point that the child is said to have lead poisoning. In other words, when a child is tested and his/her blood is found to have 5μg/dL of lead, they are considered to have elevated blood levels. This threshold was recently lowered from 10μg/dL in November 2014.
In 2014 3%, or 4,596 tested children, were confirmed to have 5μg/dL of lead in their blood or higher, and 0.85%, or 1,298 tested children, were confirmed to have 10μg/dL or higher. Now, it is important to remember that this is all of Ohio. If we were to look at the ODH's County Data Sheet and, for example, look at Summit County, which contains the major Ohio city of Akron, we would find that in this county 154,440 children were tested in 2012. Of those 9,039 children were found to have at least 5μg/dL. That is 5.85% of the children tested. According to the Summit County Public Health's 2015 Annual Report, Summit County was given a "lead hazard control grant" and with the money from the grant 50 homes have been made lead safe.
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| Above: A photo of a picture of Summit County off the ODH Annual Report. Below is a legend describing the colors. on the map. As you can see, the main city of Akron has the darkest colors which indicate that there is a very high probability that a child will have an elevated level of lead in his or her blood. |
Aside from being having awareness in your home about when the house was made, if it's walls are painted with lead-based paint, and therefore keeping the paint maintained and your house clean, and having children tested, what else can be done? Well, being knowledgeable of the topic. Throughout the annual report, there are many references and "advertisements" for talks and ways to donate to the cause.
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| A photo of the "advertisements" in the ODH's Annual Report. These advocate being aware of your home and environment, getting your children tested and being knowledgeable of lead poisoning. |
