Fatigue to Fit Centers Houston with the CDC Promotes the Theme "Lead Free Kids for the Healthy Future" from Oct 20-26, 2013 as the National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
Houston Metro, Texas (PRWEB) October 21, 2013 -- The estimate is based on children with a blood lead level of 5 micrograms per deciliter or higher using data from national surveys conducted in 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. Major sources of lead exposure to U.S. children include lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust in deteriorating buildings. Children can also be exposed to lead from additional sources including contaminated drinking water, take-home exposures from a workplace, and lead in soil
Why is lead dangerous? (Reference: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/info/)
Lead is a poison that serves no known purpose in the body. Lead enters your body when you swallow or breathe in lead dust or particles. Lead can be found in the air, water, food, dust and soil. Small amounts of lead can build up in the body and cause temporary or permanent damage.
What are the symptoms of lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning can often have no symptoms – even people who appear healthy can have lead poisoning. The symptoms of lead poisoning are often mistaken for other problems.
Some symptoms are: Fatigue, Tingling hands and feet, Headache, Memory problems, Irritability, Anemia, Diarrhea / constipation, Reproductive problems, Nausea, High blood pressure and Weight loss. Extreme cases of lead poisoning can also result in, Convulsions, Coma and Death.
Where is lead found?
Lead-Based Paint: Dwellings built before 1978 may contain paint chips or lead dust.
Lead-Contaminated Soil: Soil outside of the home may be contaminated by lead-based paint, and soil around busy roadways may be contaminated by gasoline used in automobiles before the 1980's.
Imported Home Remedies and Cosmetics:
Greta and Azarcon, which are usually bright yellow or orange in color, are commonly used in Mexican culture to treat stomach aches; Kohl and Surma, cosmetics used in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; Alkohl, Bali goli, Bint al zahab, Coral, Pay-loo-ah, Sindoor; and Nzu, Calabash clay, Calabar stone, Mabele, Argile and La Craie, which are used as a traditional remedy for morning sickness and resemble balls of clay or mud.
Jewelry and Toys: For information regarding recalls of jewelry and toys, visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission website at http://www.cpsc.gov.
Tap Water: Lead can be found in some metal water taps, interior water pipes, or pipes connecting a house to the main water pipe in the street. Lead found in tap water usually comes from the corrosion of older fixtures or from the solder that connects pipes. When water sits in leaded pipes for several hours, lead can leach into the water supply.
Imported or Handmade Pottery: Ceramic glaze used in pottery may contain lead and leach into food stored or prepared in the pottery.
Some other examples of lead exposure at home are related to Home remedies and hobbies like clay pottery, Home remodeling, Casting bullets, Target shooting at firing ranges, Stained glass making, Auto repair, Imported candies and canned foods. Candy, wrappers, and certain ethnic foods may contain lead
Take Home Exposure: Occupations and hobbies that involve working with lead. Some jobs that can cause lead exposure at work are, Battery manufacturing, Radiator repair, Lead manufacturing, Construction / demolition, tile manufacturing and Scrap metal smelting to name a few. This lead exposure from work can be carried to home on clothes, tools, shoes, skin and hair.
Despite the continued presence of lead in the environment, lead poisoning is entirely preventable. To increase awareness of childhood lead poisoning prevention, the Fatigue to Fit Centers, along with CDC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is promoting and creating awareness for the National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW) October 20-26.
This year's NLPPW theme, "Lead-Free Kids for a Healthy Future," underscores the importance of testing your home, testing your child, and learning how to prevent lead poisoning’s serious health effects.
In observance of NLPPW, events such as state proclamations, free screenings, lead-awareness community events, and educational campaigns will be conducted nationwide.
Parents can reduce a child’s exposure to lead in many ways. Here are some simple things you can do to help protect your family:
1. Get the Home Tested. Before buying an older home, ask for a lead inspection.
2. Get the Child Tested. Even if the young children seem healthy, ask the doctor to test them for lead.
3. Get the Facts. Any local health department can provide with helpful information about preventing childhood lead poisoning. Call 1-800-424-LEAD.
4. The city of Houston’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) provides blood lead testing for children from age six months to six years of age. For more information about this program visit http://www.houstontx.gov/health/Environmental/childhood.html ;.
Fatigue to Fit Centers also offers Lead level testing for $25 to those adults who may have been exposed to chronic high lead levels at work, from old homes or who may have been experiencing clinical signs and symptoms of high lead levels. Fatigue to fit centers are currently located in Katy, The galleria area, Nassau Bay, Clearlake, Lumberton, serving the Houston Texas Metro.
For more information about Fatigue to Fit Centers Call (832)-529 4348, visit http://www.fatiguetofit.com
Kelly Fields, Fatigue To Fit, http://www.fatiguetofit.com, +1 8325294348 2, [email protected]
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