The impact of Lead on Children in the classroom

2013-07-24 11:00:05

Lead has long been recognized as neurotoxic and dangerous to our health. Efforts to minimize exposure have been made by government bodies however its impact on the health but especially development of children remains. Increasing scientific evidence that low levels of lead even as low as 1-2ug/dL, have negative health effects particularly in children,⁽¹⁾ which include decreased IQ, cognition, behavioral issues but also the less often considered cardiovascular, immunological and endocrine effects.⁽²⁾ Studies thus far have focused on assessing IQ with respects to lead. A recently published study took a different perspective, looking at the impact of lead exposure on reading readiness in kindergarten.⁽³⁾ They argue that reading readiness is an early measure of a child’s capacity to integrate cognitive ability and skills learned. Health records, including blood lead levels, and corresponding kindergarten records were obtained for 3406 children in the Rhode Island Public School District.⁽³⁾ The study found that reading readiness is in fact independently associated with blood lead levels well below 10ug/dL. Increasing blood lead levels resulted in progressive decreases in test scores: 68% of children with blood lead levels <5ug/dL achieved the test standard, 62% with blood lead levels between 5-9ug/dL and only 49% with blood lead levels ≥10ug/dL. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) obtained from 2007-2010 revealed that 2.5% or about 535,000 US children aged 1-5 had blood lead levels ≥5ug/dL.⁽⁴⁾ The statistics for this age group are likely comparable to Canadian children given that blood lead levels for other age groups are quite similar. It is pretty clear that lead is still very much a health concern and more needs to be done to address it.