7 Must Things to Know about Protecting Your Children from Lead Poisoning
When your house is positive of lead, one of the foremost victims are the children. Childhood lead poisoning is very common. In fact, there are already kids who suffered from brain damage, coma, or even death because of lead poisoning.
As a parent, it is your main responsibility to ensure their safety. Here are 7 things you need to know on how to protect your kids from childhood lead poisoning:
1. Have your home tested. The first line of defense is knowing the lead poisoning risks of your home and where high content of lead can be found. You can buy lead testing kits, which are readily available at testcounty.com and can be used with ease. Most of them are already sophisticated that they can provide you with precise results in a short time. Nevertheless, you still need to hire a professional who can perform lead testing, assess the condition, and give you recommendations.
2. Have your kid screened. You also need to have your children undergo lead testing, even if there seems to be nothing wrong with him. Lead poisoning can happen gradually; and the earliest that the illness can be detected, the soonest you can implement the right treatment.
3. Make sure that the surroundings are clean. Dust and dirt can also contribute to lead poisoning, especially if the paint in the walls would start to flake. It can also be because of gasoline or water. Thus, always vacuum your home, so you can remove the dirt conveniently and immediately.
4. Enrich their diet with minerals. You can reduce childhood poisoning by increasing the intake of calcium and iron. These two minerals can slow down lead absorption in the body. Foods such as beans and dairy products are highly encouraged.
5. Reduce lead-based paint in your home. If your home is positive with lead, especially the paint, the best thing that you should do is to replace them, not simply cover them up with something new. While doing so, ensure that your kids are away and not touching the walls to avoid contact with lead and develop childhood lead poisoning. It is also highly recommended that you don’t remove the paint yourself, particularly if you’re taking care and nursing a child. You can still pass on the lead to him. Have a professional do it for you.
6. Water lead testing. Lead can also get into your home through the waters. Most of the old pipes are also made up of lead. When water passes through them, they can be contaminated. To avoid poisoning from lead, don’t drink the water immediately. Wait for a few seconds before you do so. Or you can consider buying bottled or purified water or having it boiled.
7. Educate yourself. When you have a lot of information about poisoning from lead, you can come up with a much better decision for yourself and your family. There are plenty of tips that you can get from the World Wide Web, books, journals, and magazines. You can also talk with the experts such as doctors and inspectors.
