LEAD poisoning in children is usually traced to peeling paint in old homes or old lead pipes. But the family car, and the children's car seats, can also become contaminated, especially if parents work in jobs that expose them to lead.
When six babies and toddlers in Maine, in the United States, were found to have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood last year, public health workers tested the children's homes, but found no traces of lead except in some deck and outdoor areas where family members left their shoes and dirty clothes.
Then they tested the family cars.
"We consider levels of 40 microgrammes per square foot an elevated level for floors, which are a contact area for kids," said Ms Tina Bernier, an environmental specialist for Maine's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
"Some of the numbers in the car seats were in the 400 range, and it went up to 1,000 in other areas of the cars."
The parents of several children worked in removing paint from old buildings under renovation; three of them were employed by the same painting contractor, who did not provide workers with showers or places to change clothes before going home, as required, investigators said.
Another parent was a self-employed metal recycler.
The report, published last week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the first known case of lead exposure through car seats, though lead has previously been found in cars. The New York Times
From TODAY, Health – Tuesday, 01-Sep-2009
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