Q. Does Your Apartment or House Have Peeling Paint or Cracked Plaster?
If it does it may mean that at one time lead paint was used in your building. Lead is a poison which harms children. If there is lead in your home your children can be poisoned from eating the chips from the peeling paint and by breathing in the dust on the floor that they are playing on. If your home or apartment has peeling paint, cracked walls or chipped plaster (pay particular attention to door, moldings and window frames), and you have children, have their blood tested immediately.

Q. What can you do to prevent your child from getting lead poisoning?
All children should be tested at least once a year even if their home does not have peeling paint. What if their babysitters's house has lead paint, or their relative's house has lead paint? Because low-level poisoning does not present identifiable symptoms it is very important that children be tested routinely.

Q. What else can a parent do to protect their children from lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning has been linked to poor diet. Children without enough iron or calcium are more likely to absorb lead. Dark leafy greens like spinach and romaine lettuce are good sources of iron. Milk and cheese are good sources of calcium. You can ask your pediatrician about children's vitamins.

Q. What are the effects of lead poisoning?
Preventing lead poisoning is important because lead at low levels robs kids of skills like reading, writing, concentration and abstract thinking; the type of skills that are required for academic success and employment success. It has been proven that children with high lead levels score lower in I.Q. tests.