In our first article in our lead series, we looked at the frightening prevalence of lead in homes, toys, foods and everyday household objects — yes, even in 2024.
But as long as your kiddo’s not eating lead paint off the walls, is it really a big deal if they have a small exposure to lead? If lead is just a part of our everyday environment, nearly impossible to eliminate entirely, how bad can a little bit in the soil outside really be?
Unfortunately for all our nation’s children, very.
Any exposure, even miniscule exposures, risks developmental delays, irritability, and constant crying; insomnia, other sleeping difficulties, and increased inflammation in the brain; IQ damage, GI distress, and mental health disorders.
Children are at 4-5x the risk of adults, even when both are exposed to the same amount of lead, because of the way a child’s body is susceptible to lead poisoning.
But children with lead exposure or lead poisoning often don’t look or act sick. It can take years after exposure for the neurological or nervous system damage to become evident. And lead exposure is cumulative — after several months, lead settles into the body’s bones, where it can remain for up to 30 years. This makes it one of the most insidious dangers that exist for children today.
“We want to identify children with lead levels early,” says Jane Nickert, director of nursing at the Washtenaw Health Department. “Just like with any other health issue–like with mammograms and bloodwork–the earlier we identify something, the more we can take the steps necessary to stop any negative effects.”
Lead exposure is measured in micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). 3.5 µg/dL is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) blood lead reference value (BLRV).
Any exposure at or over 3.5µg/dL is considered dangerous and requires immediate reduction of exposure and monitoring.
Diagnosis of lead exposure or poisoning, without a capillary or blood test, is wildly difficult because children often don’t present with immediate symptoms, or the symptoms are easily confused with something else (e.g. teething, crankiness, a hurt stomach). Damage from lead poisoning often develops over time, due to the harm to the brain.
A diagnosis of lead poisoning
At my pseudo triplets’ 12-month pediatrician appointment, we found their lead levels were between 8 and 11 µg/dL–officially lead poisoned. (My wife and I conceived at the same time: she conceived a singleton but I ended up conceiving twins, due 10 days apart. Yes it’s crazy.)
This was devastating news, but also made so much sense.
My wife and I had spent months taking the babies to specialist after specialist, describing their symptoms and begging for help. They cried all the time. They slept horrifically. We couldn’t figure out why they seemed to be in constant discomfort and why, despite every sleep trick in the book, they couldn’t sleep!
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When we explained how badly they slept (one baby woke 11-22x/ night and needed help resettling every time — and the other babies woke 6-10x/night. Yes that’s an average of 23-42 wakeups a night.), doctors just vaguely said, “Oh, it’ll get better” — or (mostly) flat-out didn’t believe us.
My wife and I both developed severe postpartum depression and anxiety, largely caused by how badly we were sleeping and how much our babies are crying — there were times where I’d start hallucinating sounds and visual objects due to how serious the sleep deprivation was.
When the triplets were diagnosed with lead poisoning, suddenly it all made sense.
Effects of lead poisoning
Lead poisoning can severely disrupt the sleep cycle, making it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, and leading to light sleep and frequent wakes. Lead poisoning causes joint discomfort, abdominal pain, and nausea: also contributing to crying all day and difficulty sleeping. It causes irritability, frequent and volatile mood swings, and headaches; exhaustion, weakness, and eating difficulties; nausea, clumsiness, and difficulty concentration or retaining memory.
It commonly mimics ADHD symptoms and affects learning ability; it can cause (or is far worsened by) anemia; at its worst, it causes failure to thrive, severely impaired cognitive, hearing, and verbal abilities, and is life-threatening (requiring chelation). Lead can affect nearly every organ and part of the body, including brain, liver, kidneys, and bones. It’s a systemic toxin.
Exposure to lead is actually estimated to have reduced Michiganders’ cumulative IQ scores by an average of 3 points per person. One of the frightening things about lead is that it doesn’t have to be a high amount to make a difference to a child. The difference between 1 µg/dL to 3µg/dL in a child’s brain can cause a greater IQ difference than that of 3µg/dL to 10µg/dL.
It’s actually wildly easy to be lead poisoned, as it takes only a microscopic amount to poison a child. Lead is considered dangerous at 5 micrograms of lead per square foot. How much lead is that?
If you took a packet of lead dust the size of one sugar packet and spread it evenly over an entire football field, it would create a lead dust hazard of 38 micrograms of lead per square foot.To be less than 5 micrograms of lead per square foot, the lead would need to be an eighth of a sugar packet, spread over a football field. That tiny amount of lead is invisible to the human eye.
Children are far more susceptible to lead poisoning: they absorb up to five times more lead than adults from the same exposure; they breathe faster and are closer to the ground, so they’re much more likely to breathe in lead dust; they put objects and hands in their mouth, which may have lead dust on them; and their immune systems are not yet as strong as adults’.
If you’re concerned about the possibility of your child experiencing lead exposure, there are resources in Washtenaw County to help you determine their lead levels–and what to do if they have been exposed.
When should you consider testing your child for lead?
Lead testing is now universally required for all children under age 6, thanks to a law Governor Whitmer signed in 2023 to help identify and prevent lead poisoning before it becomes too severe, and is free in Washtenaw for children under 6.
“Michigan is doing universal testing and we are seeing more children being tested,” said Nickert. “The Washtenaw Health Department does lead testing, and gets called with results regardless of if it’s elevated or not. Our home visit is voluntary and free of charge.”
You should test your child for lead if they are:
- Ages 1-2.
- Under the age of 6 and haven’t been tested for lead before.
- Live in a house built before 1978, or spend time in a home (like a grandparent’s, friend’s, or in-home daycare’s) built before then.
- Have a sibling or playmate who has tested positive for lead.
Most lead poisoning in children comes in homes built before 1978, and especially before the ’40s. Remember, even unchipped paint can still be a source of lead.
But it can also come from the soil in your background or at the playground, drinking water in your home, toys, art supplies or more. You can test your water for $15.
Catching any lead exposure as early as possible is critical to help mitigate the dangerous effects of lead and support your child’s healing. Schedule your lead test with the Health Department here, or call your pediatrician!
This is the second article in our series on lead poisoning hazards for Michigan’s children: its prevalence, its impact, how to avoid being lead poisoned, and how to heal after exposure has happened
