National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
October 23 – 29, 2011
ThinkWorcesterCounty is Lead Safe?
Think Again.
Test Your Child, Check Your Home.
What is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week?
- National observance focusing on educating parents and children about lead poisoning
- Focus is on the dangerous health effects of lead poisoning and the prevention of lead poisoning especially in homes
- Observed October 23 – 29, 2011
What is lead poisoning?
- Most common environmental child health problem in the United States
- Effects 3 to 4 million children
- Especially harmful to children younger than 6 years old
- Can effect anyone who eats, drinks, or breaths something which has too much lead
- Most common source of lead – chipping paint and paint dust
- Can find lead also in ceramic cups and dishes, fishing sinkers, leaded crystal and even in soil and water
What are symptoms of lead poisoning?
- Not always obvious symptoms
- Can include learning delays, fussiness, stomach pain, appetite changes, hyperactivity and trouble sleeping
- Extreme symptoms – seizures, coma, and death
How is WorcesterCounty affected?
- About 75% of houses and apartments built in the United States before 1978 contain lead paint
- Highest percentage of WorcesterCounty units built before 1950 are in Pocomoke, Newark, Whaleyville, Girdletree and Stockton
- Ask for property certification that rented apartment or home is lead free
- Register, treat, and inspect your pre – 1950 rental properties before renting them
- Follow paint removal and disposal safety guidelines when renovating
How can I find out if my child has been exposed to too much lead?
- Testing for lead recommended for all children at 12 and 24 months of age
- Lead testing documentation required for children entering pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade in the WorcesterCountyPublic School system
- Contact your doctor if interested in obtaining lead test
- Call (410) 629-0164 and ask for MCHP Program if need to apply for health insurance or locatea doctor
What can I do to protect my child?
- Teach wash hands often
- Teach take shoes off before coming in the house
- Make sure craft/hobby item does not contain lead
- Do not store or prepare foods in open cans
- Provide healthy diet full of foods high in iron, calcium and vitamin C
- Providing these foods helps reduce absorption of lead into your child’s body and strengthens resistance to lead poisoning
If you have questions or would like more information about lead, call Linda Wilson at (410) 957-2005 or log on to
Information above is based on Maryland Department of the Environment Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning and Center for Disease Control