Has anyone's toddler tested high for lead?

[Serena]

Dd has her first lead test tomorrow, and I'm scared shitless. I'm almost positive she's going to test high. We live in an old tenement with lead paint falling and flaking all over the walls in the hallway. None in the apartment, but we renovated when I was pregnant. I'm TERRIFIED.

Has anyone's baby tested high? If so, what did you do?

[menudo]

Yep. DD tested one point below poisoning when we lived in our tenement in the South Bronx (168 and Sherman). (Where are you?) The Docs blew it off as did the health department, as the years have passed (she is now 5yo and struggling in Kindergarten which I wonder if is related) I have learned it is epidemic in NYC and rarley hanndled correctly for many reasons. But don't worry, at least wait til ya get the test. PM me if you want for my whole story but also d oa search here, there is ALOT of info, it is a common thread topic!

[lovingmomto3]

Yes, my son tested high for lead and, even though we didn't have any of the warning signs(our home is only three years old) the health department came out and checked EVERYTHING. Closets, cars, groceries. We never could figure out what caused it because, it dropped later.
Janie

[charmarty]

What are the warning signs?Is this common practice to test toddlers for lead in the US?Or do I need to request it?

I sure hope your litle one does not test high.How long until you find out the results?Please let us know.Sending you positive vibes~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[lovingmomto3]

They had a list of high risk markers. I can only remember a few such as:
Do you live within 5 miles(Maybe more, can't remember) of a major highway
Do you live in a house that was built before 197?
Do you have copper or lead pipes in your home
Do you or someone that you have contact with work in the metal industry(such as a welder)
Do you have lead based paints in your home?

Like I said I can't remember everything that they asked but, the only thing I came close to was the living within a certain distance from a major highway. They said that the exhaust fumes from the big trucks can cause lead poisoning.
Janie

[cam's mama]

lead test results

Hi,

I requested a base line lead test for my son when he was 12 months old. I had to ask for this, my ped didn't suggest it. We live in an old Victorian in San Francisco. We painted over all the lead paint (always paint over - never sand) but it still chips a bit and there is always going to be lead dust from things like opening and closing the windows. Cameron tested 5 on the test. They say that under 10 is nothing to worry about but our ped said she likes to see 3 or under. We are currently cleaning our house VERy thoroughly every week, especially paying attention to the window sills, base boards and the floors. We are also trying to keep up with cleaning his toys (which basically live on the floor). They also suggest that foods high in iron are good to reduce lead so we are giving him lots of lentils and eggs and cereal with iron fortification. I plan to have him re-tested at about 16 months to make sure the lead count is not going up. I'm pretty concerned about this and any other suggestions would be great.

Thanks, Deb

[charmarty]

Thanks for all the info guys.
Serena~Have you found out the results yet?
cams mama~I hope you find out an answer to your question.If you dont on this thread,maybe you could start a new thread of your own.Sometimes ppls ?`s get lost in already active threads.

[StillForest]

Don't forget the yard/soil...

My roommmate's DS tested positive for high lead. We'd done everything we could think of *inside* the house. Turned out that our yard had been contaminated with lead dust when they had sanded off exterior paint to re-do it several years before. They ultimately thought that sitting/playing in lead contaminated soil in our yard caused his elevated blood lead levels.

Sharon

[Serena]

I find this whole thing so incredibly depressing and infuriating--that our precious babies are subject to this horrible toxin (in addition to so many other environmental toxins) in our houses, in the soil, in the air--it makes me want to scream with fury. All in the name of GODDAMN ALMIGHTY PROFIT. Do you know that lead paint was banned in France in 1920? That's how early they knew it was dangerous. Here in the US, not until decades later. Because we wouldn't want to make the corporations angry now, would we? We wouldn't want them to lose a dollar, even if our children are growing up neurologically damaged.

Sigh. Anyway, our lead test will be back tomorrow. Please cross your fingers for us...

[summermom]

Our baby tested high. The doctor said to give him an iron supplement -- apparently that's the only "treatment".

Also, we did some "encapsulation" by painting over the lead paint with this white paint-like thing called BIN, available in any hardware store.

Don't worry about it -- I think it mostly affects those babies really badly who are gnawing on windowframes out of hunger and neglect and that sort of thing.