Small Children at Greatest Risk for Lead Poisoning

A recent report by the Mississippi Department of Health found high levels of lead poisoning in children in 16 of the state’s 82 counties. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on one of those counties seeing high numbers.

October is lead poisoning prevention month, and the Mississippi Department of Health is encouraging all individuals to take action to protect themselves from exposure. Dr. Robert Travnicek, District Nine Health Officer for the Department of Health, says most exposure happens in the home environment,

“Most of this stuff is in older homes, and homes that are deteriorating, homes that have very old paint. We haven’t had lead paint since the sixties but still some of that stuff is flaking off. So it’s also almost always in dust, it can be in furniture and it can be in carpets, and miniblinds are the most recent exposure that we’ve had.”

Harrison County is one of the 16 counties found to have high levels of lead poisoning in children. The Coastal Family Health Center’s mobile medical van serves Harrison County and provides onsite lead testing for children. Nurse Darlene Bush is standing in one of the exam rooms on the medical van. She says oftentimes parents don’t even consider lead poisoning,

“There surprised, and we start asking them what does the father do. Does he work in a shipyard or does he work with paint? How old is the house they live in. It’s just something they don’t think about.”

Pediatrician Persharon Dixon, says the biggest problem with lead poisoning is that the symptoms are often times hard to see,

“What we are concerned about is that lead affects the ability of the brain to develop and that could result in the child having some development issues, some learning problems that would never manifest itself until the child is of school age.”

The Mississippi Department of Health investigates the source of all confirmed lead poisoning cases.