Lead Poisoning in Children and Adults.

Lead poisoning is receiving much attention and increased awareness lately owing to the tainted water supply crisis in Flint, Michigan. This article provides an important review about lead poisoning in both children and adults, potential causes, signs and symptoms, long-term effects, prevention, and recommendations for nursing practice. This article is not an in-depth examination of the topic, but rather a quick review.

A review of a preventable poison: pediatric lead poisoning.

PURPOSE: A review of lead poisoning in pediatric populations enables nurses to increase their knowledge base about lead poisoning and to further the work on the Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a public health issue in the United States. CONCLUSION: Nurses should be aware of and use the variety of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies that are available to address pediatric lead poisoning. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Prevention, education, and evidence-based treatment plans can decrease the occurrence of pediatric lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning in pregnancy: a case study with implications for midwives.

Lead poisoning remains a significant problem in the United States affecting the health of women and children. Although the damage is greatest at higher levels of accumulation, no level of lead has been found to be safe. Over the last 25 years, the blood level of lead thought to be associated with toxicity has dropped dramatically, from to 60 mcg/dL in 1960 to 10 mcg/dL today. Studies confirm that exposure to lead causes kidney damage, encephalopathy, and impaired cognitive function in children and in adults. Recent evidence indicates children with levels less than 10 mcg/dL may suffer from compromised development and intellectual performance later in life. This article discusses the case of a woman found to have lead poisoning during pregnancy. Environmental sources of lead, implications for the immediate and future health of the fetus and mother, and techniques clinicians can use in their practice to minimize the adverse effect of lead on their clients are reviewed.

Public policy and child lead poisoning: implementation of Title X.

Nurses who care for pediatric patients in all settings must be aware of the critical effects of lead poisoning in children. Lead causes toxic effects in the human body, especially in children. These hazards have led to government involvement related to the issues of lead poisoning. Currently, governmental programs are set up under Title X: The Residential Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. However, the political changes and potential cuts in government spending may affect programs such as Title X. Because of this and their important role in child health, pediatric nurses should understand the political process, the implementation of such programs, and effects of potential funding cuts.

Childhood lead poisoning on the US-Mexico border: a case study in environmental health nursing lead poisoning.

Human exposure to environmental hazards is a major public health problem along the US-Mexico border due to socioeconomic, cultural and political factors. Childhood lead exposure is endemic in areas of extreme poverty and substandard housing. Hispanic children of indigent, poorly-educated, disenfranchised families are at disproportionate risk. Risk management is contingent upon consideration of the interrelationships between socioeconomics, politics, and culture. This case study explains childhood lead poisoning in a colonia family living at subsistence level from such a perspective. The purpose of the study was to identify, explain, and ameliorate lead exposure pathways. Case study methodology was used to support or refute the proposition that these children were exposed to occupational lead. The children were the study sampling unit and the family a subunit. An embedded single case explanatory design was appropriate. Data were collected from exposure surveys, environmental and blood specimens, and review of medical records. Pattern-matching and explanation-building techniques were used to analyze data. The study illustrated how extreme poverty, lack of access to health services, social isolation, language and legal barriers, and hazardous occupations may be singularly common risk factors for Hispanic children on the US-Mexico border. The study is pertinent to public health nurses who work with this population.

Child and caretaker attributes associated with lead poisoning in young children.

Lead poisoning is one of the major health hazards facing young children. A perplexing aspect is that elevated blood lead levels persist in many children even after education of caretakers in techniques to achieve lead reduction. This study examined attributes of mothers and children that might be associated with recovery after diagnosis. The results showed that mothers who had fewer "masculine" sex-role behaviors, who thought lead poisoning to be less serious, or who thought their children to be more difficult had children who made less improvement after diagnosis. Less improvement was also seen in the children of older mothers or mothers who had more children living with them. Children who were later-born, older, or male made less improvement after diagnosis than first-born, younger, or female children. Nurses should be alert to attributes that may foretell less redovery from lead poisoning and the need for more intensive intervention in these circumstances.

Industrial blood lead levels in the South Island during 1988 and 1989: trends and follow up patterns.

AIMS: to assess trends in industrial lead exposure and the monitoring programmes in the South Island of New Zealand. METHODS: during the period 1 January 1988 to 31 December 1989, industrial lead exposure was analysed in 1425 workers in at risk occupations and the efficiency of retesting programmes was determined. RESULTS: forty-four percent of these workers had red cell lead levels above 1.9 mumol/L, the top of the reference range for an unexposed population, and 71 individuals had levels exceeding the recommended action limits (males greater than 5.0 mumol/L, and females greater than 3.8 mumol/L). Although most occupational groups showed a small decline in mean red cell lead levels, the pattern of exposure was similar to previous reports. On average, only 43% of exposed workers were retested within the recommended period and 32% of these workers were not retested within 2 years of having a raised blood lead level. CONCLUSIONS: retesting was inefficient but was most reliable when industrial health nurses were employed for monitoring. Not all lead poisoning comes from the traditional lead based industries and significant decreases were found in workers whose primary exposure is to lead from petrol.

Primary prevention of childhood lead poisoning: a goal for the 1990s.

Childhood lead poisoning remains a common problem in America today. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources has recently released a strategic plan on eliminating childhood lead poisoning, and health care professionals should become familiar with the basic elements of the plan.

Lead poisoning: the foremost preventable disease of childhood.

A national commitment to end childhood lead poisoning was made almost 20 years ago. This commitment was threatened in the 1980s when federal categorical grants and reporting requirements were terminated. States and local governments were asked to solve the problem. As a result, prevention efforts have been sporadic and were scattered geographically. In February 1991 the Department of Health and Human services released a strategic plan that and Human services released a strategic plan that implicitly acknowledged the leadership role of the federal government. NAPNAP will follow the evolution of this plan.