Love, love getting good news in my inbox. Here's a story from MSNBC about the dramatically lowered rates of lead exposure in children. The good news is the rates of elevated lead levels in children has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years. The bad news is that lead exposure is extremely damaging, even at low levels, because there is no safe level of lead exposure. Period. The other disturbing part of this article is that there are higher rates of elevated lead levels among the poor. I'd have to agree with Caroline Cox, research director of the Center for Environmental Health, a California-based advocacy group, who says that lead poisoning "is entirely preventable." AND-
"There's no reason even one child in the United States should be poisoned by lead," Cox said. "It's great there aren't as many now as there were, but there are still too many."
Amen to that. For tired parents, here is what the CDC says about protecting your children from lead (here's more on this from Non-Toxic Kids):
"The CDC recommends that pregnant women and young children avoid housing built before 1978 that is undergoing renovation. Other recommendations include regularly washing children's hands and toys; frequent washing of floors and window sills, where paint dust can collect; and avoiding hot tap water for drinking, cooking and making baby formula. Hot tap water generally contains higher lead levels from plumbing than cold water," according to the MSNBC article.
Non-Toxic Kids is a Premier Content Partner of SustainLane. Katy can be found at Non-Toxic Kids sharing helpful information about how to raise kids as naturally as possible. She is a teacher, freelance writer, and mama from the mountains of Vermont.
