As you may know by now, there is lead in the red and yellow paint used to decorate some Thomas and Friends toys. Thomas’ troubles
are not unique. By mid-August 2007, the year had seen six recalls of children's toys in Canada because of lead.
Acute lead poisoning still occurs
Cheap metal jewellery, which children may put in their mouths and accidentally swallow, has led to several cases of acute
lead poisoning. In 2006, a four-year-old from Minneapolis, Minnesota, died a few days after swallowing a metal charm that
came free with a pair of Reebok shoes. The company recalled 300,000 of the heart-shaped trinkets. In 2004, a recall of 150
million toy necklaces, rings, and bracelets was required when it was discovered the jewellery was made partly from lead. The
novelties, which cost 25 to 75 cents, were made in India and sold in vending machines throughout the US for about two years.
In that case, no one reported harm to a child.
The affected Thomas toys were manufactured in China. The toys cost from $10 to $70 each. About 90,000 of these toys were sold
in Canada between January 2005 and June 2007, when the manufacturer identified the problem and recalled the toys. Since the
Thomas affair, Fisher Price Inc. has recalled over 70,000 toys sold in Canada from February to August. The company discovered
that these Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street toys, amongst others, had paint containing more lead than is allowed.
Acute lead poisoning causes swelling and damage to the brain. A child who previously had stomach pain may go on to be listless
or unresponsive, suffer seizures, or go into a coma. To treat lead poisoning, doctors try to flush out any lead still in the
child’s intestines. They also give the child medicine called chelation agents, chemicals that can pull lead out of the bloodstream
and into the urine so it can leave the body.
The chronic problem
During the 1950s and 1960s, children often came to urban hospitals with acute lead poisoning affecting the brain. Now, it’s
rare for children to get sick enough from lead to show symptoms. But the welcome decline in life-threatening lead poisoning
may distract us from a chronic problem. Many children are still exposed to lead, fortunately in much smaller amounts. Even
low levels of lead delay mental development, subtly lower intelligence, impair hearing, and even cause problems with attention
and behaviour.
The current guidelines from the World Health Organization spell out what a low level of exposure means: 60 micrograms (µg)
of pure lead intake daily could be enough to put a child over the blood concentration that causes concern, 10 µg per 100 millilitres
of blood. Pure lead is very dense, so 60 µg would be about the size of a single grain of sand.
The main treatment for chronic lead poisoning is the removal of lead from the child’s environment. There is substantial evidence
to suggest that chelation therapies, so helpful for acute poisoning, have no benefit for children with chronic elevated lead
levels.
Lead used for millennia
It’s tempting to see lead toxicity as a modern issue, caused by our computers, televisions, cars, and mobile phones. But in
fact, humans have worked with lead for about 7000 years. As lead become more widely recognized as a toxic compound in the
early twentieth century, toy soldiers, cosmetics, and water pipes all had to be made without it. Mexican glazed pottery and
ceramics can still be a risk, because the glazes are traditionally made with lead. The traditional eye make-up called kohl,
al-kahl, or surma is also still made with lead in many countries. These products have been shown to cause elevated lead in
children’s blood, as they have probably done for centuries.
Doctors and public health experts are still trying to find out whether lead levels common in the developed world are enough
to hurt us or our children. It’s a controversial issue and many are still pushing for lower exposures.
Lead levels considered “safe” have fallen throughout history. In fact, the word “plumbing” was brought into English from the
Latin “plumbum” which means lead. Efforts to bring exposure down to safe levels have been very successful over the last few
decades, but our history of using lead is still with us. For instance, the city of Ottawa estimates about 28,000 homes built
there before 1955 have lead water pipes. One by one, those pipes will be removed and replaced, at considerable cost to the
city and the homeowners.
Ontario is now requiring schools and day cares built before 1990 to test for lead in tap water annually. Lead may enter drinking
water from lead water pipes, from solder containing lead or from brass fixtures. Lead-based solder was used to connect and
seal plumbing until the late 1980s. Now building codes in the developed world prohibit lead-based solder.
It’s important to keep the problem of lead in drinking water in perspective, however. Lead in dust, paint, and soil is generally
a larger proportion of our lead intake. Many municipalities have programs to test water in homes for lead. If you live in
a house built before 1955 and you are concerned that you may have lead pipes, get in touch with your local Public Health authority.
Poisoned by “lead-free” paint
Until the 1960s, lead was added in significant quantities to paints in Canada. It wasn't until the 1976 that the Canadian government set a limit of 0.5% of lead for paint used for toys, furniture, and
inside homes.
For some children, that limit was not low enough. In 2003, a mother from Montreal took her four-year-old son to a doctor after
she noticed he had been eating chips of paint peeled off the walls of their home. The boy seemed well enough. But blood tests
and x-rays showed he had about ten times the normal amount of lead circulating in his body, and there were paint chips still
in his bowel. Investigators found no other concentrated sources of lead in his environment. The paint was considered “lead-free”
because it contained less than 0.5% lead. With treatment, the boy recovered.
There is no need for any concern about leaded paint in homes built after 1992, because all consumer paints produced in Canada
and the U.S. by that time were virtually lead-free.
Canadians will soon know more
The United States has identified chronic lead exposure as the most serious environmental problem affecting children. In Canada,
most authorities believe that chronic lead poisoning in children is uncommon, based on studies in the late 1970s. For several
years, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment has been pressing for a new national survey of blood lead
levels, and now such a survey is underway. Between March 2007 and June 2009, Statistics Canada will sample the blood and urine
of 5000 Canadians over the age of five, and analyze the samples for scores of environmental toxins, including lead.
While researchers are trying to clarify the national view, these tips can help you keep yourself and your children safe from
lead:
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Protecting your child starts with protecting yourself. Women with high levels of lead in their bones and blood have children
who grow slower, have smaller heads, and have many of the
neurological symptoms of chronic lead poisoning. Even if your exposure
to lead is low when you become pregnant, building the fetus’ skeleton requires
calcium stored in your bones — and stored lead
from previous exposure comes along for the ride. The good news is that breast milk is usually very safe even in women who
have been exposed to lead.
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Remember that each exposure adds up. If you live in a city or on a busy street, there is a small amount of lead remaining
in the soil from leaded gasoline. If your house has paint from before 1950, there is lead on your walls and probably in your
house dust. If your child eats from lead-glazed ceramic dishes, a small amount of lead is absorbed into the food. It is the
total exposure from all sources that matters, so anything you do to reduce exposure will help your child.
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Don’t ignore things that your child is given or buys. Party favours, free items that come with a larger purchase, and garage
sale treasures are actually more likely to contain lead than your own well-considered choices. Keep your eyes open for product
recalls.
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Don’t try to strip old paint yourself if it may contain lead. You will create fumes, dust, and peelings that pose an even
greater hazard than the paint you were worried about. This is a job for a licensed contractor. If paint is not peeling or
blistering, you’re probably better off leaving it where it is.
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Do-it-yourself lead testing kits are controversial. The best way to be sure about lead content in paint is to send paint chips
to a laboratory. Look in a local directory for Laboratories, Analytical and Testing. When you find a lab that can help you,
don't forget to ask about how to collect and send a paint sample.
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It can be hard to stop children from chewing on things. Keep your eye on painted surfaces. Tooth marks on a corner, window
sill, or a painted toy mean you need to make sure that paint is safe.
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Adult hobbies and occupations matter too, because we often expose our children to chemicals we use. Keep young children away
from lead materials used in stained-glass work, artists’ paints, potters’ glazes, electronics, welding, machine shops, car
garages, fishing sinkers, and lead shot for hunting or sport shooting. Lead can also enter the home on contaminated work clothes.
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Ensure children eat nutritious meals high in iron and calcium. These minerals help protect a child’s bones and blood from
lead absorption.
Resources:
Toronto Public Health: Concerns about lead exposure.
http://www.toronto.ca/health/hphe/lead_exposure.htm
Ontario Ministry of Environment on lead in drinking water:
http://www.ontario.ca/ONT/portal51/drinkingwater/General?docId=133481
Toy safety experts:
http://www.safekidscanada.ca/
Dangerous child product recalls from Health Canada Consumer Product Safety:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/advisories-avis/child-enfant/index_e.html
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission:
http://www.cpsc.gov/
