Study Says Lead Perils 3 to 4 Million Children

Three million to 4 million American children are exposed to levels of lead in the environment that put them at health risk, a report presented to Congress on Monday says.

In addition, an estimated 400,000 fetuses each year are exposed to harm due to lead poisoning of their mothers, according to the report by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the Health and Human Services Department.

The agency noted that lead contamination has been substantially reduced in recent decades by government regulations reducing the use of lead in gasoline and curtailing lead emissions from smelters and other industrial sources.

However, it said, “Exposure to lead continues to be a serious potential public health problem--particularly for the young child and fetus.”

The agency also said the problem may be more difficult to address than previously believed because medical researchers are finding that lead can have harmful effects at lower exposure levels than other studies indicated.

“Thus, despite some progress in reducing the average level of lead exposure in this country, it is increasingly apparent that the scope of the childhood lead poisoning problem has been, and continues to be, much greater than was previously realized,” the report says.

A highly toxic metal, lead is particularly damaging to the developing brain and central nervous system, causing delayed mental development, reduced IQ scores and impaired hearing. Such damage is persistent and may be irreversible.

The agency said the incidence of elevated blood lead levels was highest among underprivileged inner-city children, but it added, “No economic or racial subgrouping is exempt from the risk of having blood lead levels sufficiently high to cause adverse health effects.

“Indeed, sizable numbers of children from families with incomes above the poverty level have been reported with blood lead levels above (those considered dangerous).”

The report said the major sources of lead poisoning for the foreseeable future are lead-based paints used in pre-1950 housing, lead residues in dust and soil and lead in drinking water supplies.