There are a number of health problems that can be caused by the environment. The most preventable is lead poisoning. However, still almost one million children in the United States have been tested and shown elevated levels of lead in their blood. Any child can be in danger from lead poisoning but despite what some people think, your child cannot be harmed by lead in pencils. There is no actual lead in pencils or the paint on the pencils, but there are other ways that your child can come into contact with lead.

Children can get lead dust from old paint on their hands or toys and then put their hands into their mouth. They can breathe in the lead dust as well. Sometimes those mud pies may contain lead from old paint. Lead can also enter the body if the child drinks water from pipes lined with lead or soldered with lead.

When the lead enters the body it travels through the bloodstream and it eventually gets stored in the bones where it can remain for their lifetime. If there are very high levels of lead in the body it can cause long term problems such as kidney problems, hearing loss, growth problems, anemia, developmental delays and seizures. Most of the children who have high levels of lead in their system do not show any symptoms until they are of school age. Unfortunately at this point they are already showing learning and behavioral problems.

Parents can reduce the risks of lead poisoning by making sure the child eats well balanced meals. Parents who give their child nutritious, low-fat foods that are high in calcium and iron, like meat, beans and spinach and low-fat dairy products, help reduce the amount of lead being absorbed in the body. There are other things parents can do to ensure their child is not in danger from lead poisoning.

If you have lead pipes, make sure you run the water for two minutes in the morning and do not use the hot tap water for drinking, cooking or mixing formula. If the parents have hobbies that involve lead such as paints, solder, fishing weights, buck shots or stained glass, a change of clothes and shoes is needed before entering your home. Keep clothes at work or wash them immediately. Same goes for parents who work at places that have high lead levels like battery manufacturers and smelting companies.

Always encourage your children to wash their hands frequently. This is a good practice for many reasons!

If your home was built before 1950, ask your doctor to test your child for lead. If your home was built before 1978 ask your health department about safe ways to remodel your house. The only way to know for sure if your child has been exposed to any lead is to have your doctor test your child's blood. Screening for lead can be done by using a small amount of blood from a finger tip, or a larger amount of blood from a vein. These tests will measure the amount of lead found in their blood.