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Lead levels plummet in young children

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Associated Press

In a stunning improvement in children’s health, far fewer kids have high lead levels than 20 years ago, government research shows -- a testament to aggressive efforts to get lead out of paint, water and soil.

Lead can interfere with developing nervous systems and cause permanent problems with learning, memory and behavior. Children in poor neighborhoods have generally been more at risk because they tend to live in older housing and in industrial areas.

Federal researchers found that just 1.4% of young children had elevated lead levels in their blood in 2004, the latest data available. That compares with almost 9% in 1988.

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“It has been a remarkable decline,” said study coauthor Mary Jean Brown of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It’s a public health success story.”

The 84% drop extends a trend that began in the 1970s when efforts began to remove lead from gasoline. The researchers credited continuing steps to reduce children’s exposure to lead in old house paint, soil, water and other sources.

The study is being released today in the March edition of the journal Pediatrics. It is based on nearly 5,000 children, ages 1 to 5, who were part of a periodic government health survey.

The government considers levels of at least 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood to be elevated, although research has shown that lower levels can cause problems, including attention and reading difficulties. There is no known “safe” level, the study authors noted.

Caroline Cox, research director of the Center for Environmental Health, a California-based advocacy group, called lead poisoning “entirely preventable.”

“There’s no reason even one child in the United States should be poisoned by lead,” Cox said. “It’s great there aren’t as many now as there were, but there are still too many.”

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Lead-based paint in old housing, which can contaminate house dust and soil, is the main source. Children also can be exposed to lead in water, mostly from old plumbing pipes, as well as toys.

The CDC recommends that pregnant women and young children avoid housing built before 1978 that is undergoing renovation.

Other recommendations include regularly washing children’s hands and toys; frequently washing floors and window sills, where paint dust can collect; and avoiding hot tap water for drinking, cooking and making baby formula. Hot tap water generally contains higher lead levels from plumbing than cold water.

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