

Clean your floors with a wet mop and wipe furniture, windowsills and other dusty surfaces with a damp cloth. To help reduce hand-to-mouth transfer of contaminated dust or soil, wash your children's hands after outdoor play, before eating and at bedtime. Simple measures can help protect you and your family from lead poisoning: If you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy, be especially careful to avoid exposure to lead. Immigrant and refugee children also should be tested. American families who adopt a child from another country might want to have the child's blood tested for lead poisoning.

Developing countries often have less strict rules regarding exposure to lead than do developed countries. Refinishing old furniture might put you in contact with layers of lead paint. Making stained glass and some jewelry requires the use of lead solder. People renovating an older home are at even higher risk. Although the use of lead-based paints has been banned since the 1970s, older homes and buildings often retain remnants of this paint. Young children also absorb lead more easily, and it's more harmful for them than it is for adults and older children. They might chew paint that flakes off walls and woodwork, and their hands can be contaminated with lead dust. Infants and young children are more likely to be exposed to lead than are older children. People are exposed to lead and can bring it home on their clothes when they work in auto repair, mining, pipe fitting, battery manufacturing, painting, construction and certain other fields.įactors that may increase your risk of lead poisoning include: Time spent at firing ranges can lead to exposure. Tamarind, an ingredient used in some candies made in Mexico, might contain lead. Lead poisoning has been linked to greta and azarcon, traditional Hispanic medicines, as well as some from India, China and other countries.

Kohl is another eye makeup that may contain lead. Tiro, an eye cosmetic from Nigeria, has been linked to lead poisoning. Lead is sometimes found in toys and other products produced abroad. Glazes found on some ceramics, china and porcelain can contain lead that can leach into food served or stored in the pottery. Household dust can contain lead from lead paint chips or from contaminated soil brought in from outside. Some soil close to walls of older houses contains lead. Lead-contaminated soil is still a major problem around highways and in some urban settings. Lead particles from leaded gasoline or paint settle on soil and can last years.
