Hello,
I am curious if anyone has ever checked into lead exposure as an explanation for some of their children's behavioral issues? Many of the issues described in these forums could(?) be a side effect of lead poisoning. ADHD, anxiety disorders, aggressive tendencies, ODD, conduct disorder, physical delays, and most especially learning disabilities could all be side effects of lead exposure (if a child was exposed) even at levels lower than 10- the cutoff for known damage is 5 which is easy enough to pick up from sucking on a car key, a tainted toy, or breathing in minuscule amounts of leaded dust.
Lead affects the areas of the brain that deal with IQ and executive functioning-basically the stuff that helps us function adaptively and succeed.
Additionally, at high enough levels, it will cause a lot of physical delays and issues (e.g. immune system problems, delayed growth, etc.). There are many articles hypothesizing that ADHD cases (as much as 30%) may actually be undiagnosed early childhood lead poisoning.
I mention this both because I am curious, but also because I have a passion for children not being needlessly, tragically robbed of their potential due to the toxins that our society has introduced into our homes, food, air, and water.
Thanks.
I am curious if anyone has ever checked into lead exposure as an explanation for some of their children's behavioral issues? Many of the issues described in these forums could(?) be a side effect of lead poisoning. ADHD, anxiety disorders, aggressive tendencies, ODD, conduct disorder, physical delays, and most especially learning disabilities could all be side effects of lead exposure (if a child was exposed) even at levels lower than 10- the cutoff for known damage is 5 which is easy enough to pick up from sucking on a car key, a tainted toy, or breathing in minuscule amounts of leaded dust.
Lead affects the areas of the brain that deal with IQ and executive functioning-basically the stuff that helps us function adaptively and succeed.
Additionally, at high enough levels, it will cause a lot of physical delays and issues (e.g. immune system problems, delayed growth, etc.). There are many articles hypothesizing that ADHD cases (as much as 30%) may actually be undiagnosed early childhood lead poisoning.
I mention this both because I am curious, but also because I have a passion for children not being needlessly, tragically robbed of their potential due to the toxins that our society has introduced into our homes, food, air, and water.
Thanks.