Look out for Lead

Lead is highly toxic, especially to young children. It can harm a child’s brain, kidneys, bone marrow, and other body systems. At high levels, lead can cause coma, convulsions, and even death.

Low levels of lead in children’s blood can cause reduced intelligence, impaired hearing and reduced stature. Fig. 1 shows the percentage of children poisoned vs. the ages of the house.

However:

• Lead poisoning is a completely preventable disease.
• Residential lead paint hazards in homes of children can be virtually eliminated in 10 years. Fig. 2 shows projected decrease for the next ten years in number of children showing elevated lead blood level
• Every child deserves to grow up in a home free of lead paint hazards.

Thus, through this web page we at the Geology Department, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, try to increase the level of awareness by using educational display, printable handouts, updated web links for the people from the community.

In addition to an effect to educate residents about childhood lead hazards, we will present an educational forum for parents, renters, and landlords, including the EPA and HUD Real Estate Notification & Disclosure Rule.

Basic information on lead in drinking water:

1. What is lead?
   • Lead is a toxic heavy metal.
2. How does lead affect human health?
   • The body mistake lead as calcium and ingested. Lead damages the brains, kidneys, and nervous systems, red blood cells and reproductive system.
3. Does lead affect everyone equally?
   • No. Young children, infants are more vulnerable.
4. How are people exposed to lead?
   • Soil and dust.
   • Drinking water.
   • Lead-based paint
5. How much lead is too much?
   • For drinking water: 15 part per billion.
   • For soil: 250 part per million if only lead present, reduced to 50 part per million when multiple contaminants present (WI limit) vs. 400 part per million for play area and 1200 part per million in the rest of yard of EPA limit.
   • Dust-lead hazard. A dust-lead hazard is surface dust in a residential dwelling or child-occupied facility that contains a mass-per-area concentration of lead equal to or exceeding 40 mg/ft² on floors or 250 mg/ft² on interior window sills based on wipe samples.