Below is a news release on a policy statement appearing in the October issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).


CHICAGO - With approximately 25 percent of U.S. children living in homes or apartments with exposed lead, a revised AAP policy, “Lead Exposure in Children: Prevention, Detection, and Management” recommends greater efforts by government agencies and pediatricians to identify and prevent child lead poisoning.

Lead levels have decreased significantly in children during the last two decades due to blood testing of at-risk children, a decrease in airborne lead sources such as gasoline and smokestack emissions, and the ending of lead-based paint use. As a result, fatal lead encephalopathy, a brain disease caused by high blood lead levels, has virtually disappeared.

However, an estimated 25 percent of the 16.4 million U.S. homes with one or more children under the age of 6 still have significant amounts of lead in contaminated paint, dust, soil, and/or plumbing.

High blood lead levels, which typically peak at age 2, can cause a variety of physical and cognitive problems. Early symptoms of lead poisoning include headaches, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, constipation, and/or decreased activity. These symptoms can quickly proceed to vomiting, stupor and convulsions.

Recent research shows that even low levels of lead can affect cognitive development and IQ. Children with high lead levels are more inattentive, hyperactive, disorganized and less able to follow instructions. High school students exposed to lead in early childhood are more likely to have reading disabilities and higher absenteeism, and less likely to graduate.

The policy recommends that pediatricians work with parents, particularly those of children ages 6 months to 3 years, to identify possible sources of lead in their homes and child care settings. If possible, all children at age 1 and again at age 2 should be tested, according to the policy, “as most children are at sufficient risk for lead.” Mandatory testing should be implemented for children who are Medicaid-eligible, as they make up 80 percent of the children in the US with elevated blood lead levels.

Pediatricians should pay extra attention to special risk groups such as immigrants, foreign-born adopted children, or children whose parents work with lead or lead dust at work or home.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.