Toxic Metals

"Children are not small adults," say those who track diseases and their environmental triggers. Children exposed to even small amounts of lead, for example, may suffer permanent damage to their IQs and ability to pay attention.

Certain metals found in air, water and the food supply are toxic to human health. Exposure to arsenic, for instance, can cause cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Because some substances tend to accumulate in the fatty parts of fish, consumption warnings for tuna, among others, are meant to limit how much mercury and other contaminants are ingested.

According to the National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov), lead is much more harmful to children than adults because it can affect children's developing nerves and brains. The younger the child, the more harmful lead can be. Babies in their mothers' wombs are the most vulnerable.

Children get lead in their bodies when they put lead objects in their mouths, especially if they swallow the lead object. They can even get lead poison on their fingers from touching a dusty or peeling lead object like a window sill, then putting their fingers in their mouths or eating food afterward. Tiny amounts of lead can also be inhaled.

Overall, about 1 in 20 preschoolers has high levels of lead in his or her blood. Any child can be affected. Children living in cities or older houses are more likely to have high levels. The NIH says lead is found in:

• House paint before 1978. Even if the paint is not peeling, it can be a problem. Lead paint is very dangerous when it is being stripped or sanded. These actions release fine lead dust into the air. Infants and children living in pre-1960's housing (when paint often contained lead) have the highest risk of lead poisoning. Small children often swallow paint chips or dust from lead-based paint.
• Toys and furniture painted before 1976.
• Painted toys and decorations made outside the U.S.
• Lead bullets, fishing sinkers, curtain weights.
• Plumbing, pipes, faucets. Lead can be found in drinking water in homes whose pipes were connected with lead solder. While new building codes require lead-free solder, lead is still found in some modern faucets.
• Soil contaminated by decades of car exhaust or years of house paint scrapings. Thus, lead is more common in soil near highways and houses.
• Hobbies involving soldering, stained glass, jewelry making, pottery glazing, miniature lead figures (always look at labels).
• Children's paint sets and art supplies (always look at labels).
• Pewter pitchers and dinnerware.
• Storage batteries.

There are many possible symptoms of lead poisoning, says NIH. Lead can affect many different parts of the body. Over time, even low levels of lead exposure can harm a child's mental development. The possible health problems get worse as the level of lead in the blood gets higher. Possible complications include:

• Reduced IQ
• Slowed body growth
• Hearing problems
• Behavior or attention problems
• Failure at school
• Kidney damage

The symptoms of lead poisoning may include:

• Irritability
• Aggressive behavior
• Low appetite and energy
• Difficulty sleeping
• Headaches
• Reduced sensations
• Loss of previous developmental skills (in young children)
• Anemia
• Constipation
• Abdominal pain and cramping (usually the first sign of a high, toxic dose of lead poison)
• Very high levels may cause vomiting, staggering gait, muscle weakness, seizures, or coma

Steps to take to protect your family include:

• If you suspect you may have leaded paint in your house, get advice on safe removal from the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at 800-RID-LEAD or the National Information Center at 800-LEAD-FYI.
• Keep your home as dust free as possible.
• Everyone should wash their hands before eating.
• Throw out old painted toys if you do not know whether the paint contains lead.
• Let tap water run for a minute before drinking or cooking with it.
• If your water has been tested high in lead, consider installing an effective filtering device or switch to bottled water for drinking and cooking.
• Avoid canned goods from foreign countries until the ban on lead soldered cans goes into effect.
• If imported wine containers have a lead foil wrapper, wipe the rim and neck of the bottle with a towel moistened with lemon juice, vinegar, or wine before using.
• Don't store wine, spirits, or vinegar-based salad dressings in lead crystal decanters for long periods of time, as lead can leach out into the liquid.

For more information, you can also call the National Lead Information Center at (800) 424-5323. Lead is a very strong poison. A single high, toxic dose of lead can cause severe emergency symptoms. However, it is more common for lead poisoning to build up slowly over time.

People with higher lead levels have a greater risk of long-lasting health problems, and must be followed carefully. Their nerves and muscles can be greatly affected and may no longer function as well as they should. Other body systems may be harmed to various degrees, such as the kidneys and blood vessels. People who survive toxic lead levels may suffer some permanent brain damage. Children are more vulnerable to serious long-term problems. A complete recovery from chronic lead poisoning may take months to years.

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline has experts that can talk to you about poisoning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Arsenic is another potentially toxic metal. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org), in a 1999 study, the National Academy of Sciences found that arsenic in drinking water causes bladder, lung and skin cancer, and may cause kidney and liver cancer. The study also found that arsenic harms the central and peripheral nervous systems, as well as heart and blood vessels, and causes serious skin problems. It also may cause birth defects and reproductive problems.

The Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) says arsenic is a semi-metal element in the periodic table. It is odorless and tasteless. It enters drinking water supplies from natural deposits in the earth or from agricultural uses, such as runoff from orchards, and from industrial practices, such as runoff from glass and electronic production wastes.

Non-cancer effects, according to the EPA, can include thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial paralysis; and blindness. The agency says arsenic has also been linked to cancer of the kidney, nasal passages, liver and prostate.

EPA has set the arsenic standard for drinking water at .010 parts per million (10 parts per billion) to protect consumers served by public water systems from the effects of long-term, chronic exposure to arsenic. The agency's "goal" for arsenic in drinking water is zero, because there is no "safe" level.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (www.cdc.gov), lists the following symptoms or effects of arsenic poisoning:

• Thickening and discoloration of the skin
• Stomach pain, nausea, vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Numbness in hands and feet
• Partial paralysis
• Blindness

For more information, call the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Division of Toxicology at 1-888-422-8737. The ATSDR says that certain tests can measure the level of arsenic in your body. Arsenic can be measured in blood, urine, hair and fingernails. Testing urine will tell you if you have been exposed to arsenic in the last few days. Testing hair and fingernails will tell you if you have been exposed to arsenic in the past six to twelve months. These tests will tell you if it was arsenic that made you sick, but can't be used to, say, predict whether you will develop cancer.

To protect your family from arsenic in drinking water, the ATSDR says do not heat or boil it. Because some of the water will evaporate, boiling water can increase the concentration of arsenic in your water. Disinfecting water by chlorination or by using most mechanical filters is also not effective in removing arsenic from water. However, there are several types of filters that can be used, including reverse osmosis, ultra-filtration, and ion exchange.

Mercury-contaminated fish is another health concern. According to the National Institutes of Health, Methylmercury is a type of mercury ("quicksilver"), a metal that is liquid at room temperature. When poisoning occurs, it results in damage to the brain and nervous system. Unborn babies and young infants are very sensitive to methylmercury's effects. Methylmercury causes central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) damage. How bad the damage is depends on how much poison gets into the body.

Most compounds containing mercury are poisonous. Methylmercury has been used to preserve seed grain, which is fed to animals. Methylmercury may also form in water when other forms of mercury in the water react with certain bacteria. Methylmercury poisoning has occurred after people have eaten meat from animals fed seedgrain or fish from waters contaminated with methylmercury (such as Minamata Bay in Japan). Many of the symptoms of mercury poisoning are similar to those seen in cerebral palsy. In fact, methylmercury is thought to cause a form of cerebral palsy.

The FDA has warned women who are pregnant or may become pregnant and nursing mothers to avoid fish that may contain unsafe levels of methylmercury. Such fish include swordfish, king mackerel, shark, or tilefish. The NIH warns that you should not eat any type of these fish caught by friends and family. Check your local or state health departments for warnings against locally caught, noncommercial fish.

Symptoms of methylmercury poisoning include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Growth problems
• Microcephaly (small head)
• Deafness
• Blindness

Methylmercury damage is irreversible, but symptoms don't usually worsen unless there's a new exposure to methylmercury, says the NIH.

Treatment is determined by the severity of the condition and is similar to that given for cerebral palsy. Call your doctor if you know you've eaten foods that may have been contaminated with methylmercury.

To prevent poisoning, stay away from any foods contaminated with methylmercury. Because of manufacturing, mercury has become so common in the environment that trace amounts of methylmercury are present in many foods derived from the ocean, including deep-sea tuna. Fortunately, says the NIH, the levels are low enough that most of these foods remain safe. If you believe you may have been exposed to unsafe levels, contact Poison Control.

To order a home test kit for these and other contaminants, contact:

National Testing Laboratories

6571 Wilson Mills Rd # 102

Cleveland, OH 44143

(440) 449-2525

www.ntllabs.com