When I bought my house a year and a half ago, I had it tested for many things, including EMFs, dirty electricity, radon, VOCs and mold. At the time, I never even thought of testing it for what I have since learned is the primary environmental toxin that poisons children in their homes — lead.
Environmental illnesses conservatively cost Americans $74.6 billion annually, with $50.9 billion of that attributed to lead poisoning alone1. In the US, roughly one in three children are poisoned with lead2. Many of us are affected by it and we don't even realize it. Lead is found in our home and in our greater environment. It is found in particular in contaminated soil and house dust. While it is hazardous to everyone, it is particularly dangerous to children whose brains are still developing.
Earlier this week I spoke with Tamara Rubin, a woman who is on a mission to educate us all on this toxin. Tamara has four children, two of whom were lead poisoned in 2005. Here is her story.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): Can you tell us when you first became aware of the dangers of lead poisoning?
Tamara Rubin: When we refinanced our home we were told we needed to repaint the outside of the house so that it would appraise well for a better loan. We interviewed several painters and chose one who told us he was trained and certified in lead safe work practices. We verified that he was licensed, bonded and insured, but we did not think to also ask to see his lead training certificate. He also told us that because he was working on the outside of the home, it was safe to remain in the home as long as we had the windows shut. We later learned that he had lied to us. It turned out that he was not trained and certified in lead safe work practices, and it was definitely NOT safe to remain in our home! (We learned later, in a lawyer’s office, that he had actually failed the lead safety certification exam twice!) He used the most dangerous methods possible to remove the old lead paint off our home to prepare it for painting which involved open flame torch burning, dry scraping and pressure washing. The fumes enveloped our historic home and poisoned the air in our indoor environment. My two youngest children inhaled the fumes from the torch burning process and were instantly poisoned.
Their symptoms included diarrhea, vomiting and severe headaches. At first no one realized what was exactly wrong with them. The doctors told us that there was nothing to worry about as long as they did not have a fever. Despite the persistence of severe symptoms for weeks, no one at our Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) ever thought to suggest testing them for lead. After two months of symptoms with no answers, I told the doctors to test them for everything! It turned out the only test that came back positive was the test for lead in their blood. We later came to learn that, at least in Oregon, they don’t typically consider that white children from middle-income families could be poisoned. Instead they focus their testing on low-income minority families. Because of this, lead poisoning cases are going misdiagnosed or undiagnosed every day.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): What are the symptoms of someone who has been poisoned with lead?
Tamara Rubin: Unfortunately, there may be no symptoms at first. Most people who are exposed to lead hazards get chronic lead poisoning from prolonged or repeated exposure to small amounts of lead. This is likely to occur in an older home’s house dust, for instance. The symptoms my children experienced were extreme because they had acute lead poisoning stemming from a large exposure in a short time period. The impact of lead exposure in children is not normally seen until a child reaches school age. Testing is the only way to determine if someone has been poisoned. If you are not tested right after an exposure it is difficult to tell how great the exposure might have been because lead is absorbed by the body in the place of calcium. It can then be stored in the soft tissue, brain and bones. As a result of the absorption of lead, it has been shown to later in life lead to long-term health impairments including heart, liver, and kidney disease. For children who are exposed very young it can inhibit frontal lobe development in the brain, which is why early childhood lead exposure has also been definitively linked to ADD, ADHD, Asperger’s and Autism Spectrum symptoms.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): How can you check if you have been poisoned?
Tamara Rubin: A blood test is the first step. The Federal (CDC) Level of Concern is a blood lead level (BLL) of 5.0 micrograms per deciliter. When my children were poisoned in 2005 the level that the State of Oregon considered a child poisoned was a BLL of 15, so while things have gotten better, the standards still need to change. As with many things when looking at environmental toxicity European standards are stricter and more science based than standards in the United States. For example, in Germany a child is considered poisoned with a BLL of 3.5. I would like to see the CDC’s Level of Concern lowered to a BLL of 2.0. However Dr. Bruce Lanphear, who is one of the top scientists on this issue out of Vancouver, Canada recommends a Level of Concern of a BLL 1.0. (Researchers have actually learned that the naturally occurring level of lead in pre-industrial humans was 0.016 micrograms per deciliter. Today this low a blood lead level would be nearly impossible given the amount of lead in our soil, our homes and our air.) Lead has a 30-day “half-life” in the blood, so blood lead levels typically only reflect recent exposures. If you are concerned about earlier exposures it is possible to get baby teeth tested after they fall out. You can also have hair tested, although this is not nearly as accurate a method as testing baby teeth.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): What are some ways people can become poisoned with lead?
Tamara Rubin: Lead can be found in the dust particles in our homes. Many people live in older homes (there are actually approximately 80,000,000 homes in the United States that were built before the 1978 phase out of lead paint) and the lead paint that was applied 50, 60 or 70 years ago is finally starting to deteriorate and introduce new hazards. Also, people are renovating older homes and releasing lead into the environment that way. Kids who play at playgrounds in areas with high concentrations of lead deposited during decades of leaded gasoline use (older urban centers, & areas near high traffic roads) can also be exposed while at play. Port cities also have a higher concentration of lead since it is still used in non-residential paint, including marine paint and the paint used to coat bridges. Leaded crystal, decorative leaded glass, painted or metal antiques, lead painted toys and pottery are other sources. If people have concerns about lead in their homes they can voice their displeasure on our Facebook page, and I will do my best to answer their questions there.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): How can someone check for lead when purchasing a new home?
Tamara Rubin: They can have a Hazard Assessment done. The cost is typically between $400 and $1,000 depending on the size of the home and how extensive an assessment is done.Hazard assessors use XRF testing, dust wipe sampling, as well as observing the environment. Deteriorating lead paint typically looks a bit like alligator skin – square chipping “scales."
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): How can someone who has high concentrations of lead detox themselves or their children of this poisonous heavy metal?
Tamara Rubin: There are some natural chelators. Chlorella, cilantro, some seaweeds and citrus pectin all have been shown to help remove lead from our bodies. Many doctors recommend increased leafy green intake and other food items high in calcium. I use a product called NDF by Bioray Natural Detox and my children take a few drops with a full glass of water every morning. I personally have experienced great results with this product but recommend that everyone does their own research and consults with their doctor before choosing which products to use.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): What are you doing to raise people’s awareness about this topic? Can you tell us a little bit about your documentary film, MisLEAD: America’s Secret Epidemic?
Tamara Rubin: I undertook the production of MisLead: America’s Secret Epidemic because I learned early on in my advocacy work that in our busy world today, the mainstream media is the best way to get people’s attention. In further looking into the issue of lead poisoning, I realized there had never been a feature-length documentary produced on the subject. This seemed like the best possible tool to utilize in getting the word out.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): How can people support your cause to help you make a difference?
Tamara Rubin: Right now we have a couple of crowd sourced fundraising campaigns underway, and people can actually win prizes and earn backer rewards if they ask their friends to pledge $1 or more in support of the film.
Naturally Savvy (Andrea Donsky): Thank you and we wish you the best of luck!
Through her nonprofit organization, Tamara is working on raising money to finish the film to bring this message to the world.
If you would like to make a pledge, you can do so through the following websites:
1. Kickstarter
2. Hopemob
3. PayPal
Click here to visit Tamara's website.
Andrea Donsky is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N) and co-founder of NaturallySavvy.com. Andrea has dedicated her life to sharing her passion for living a naturally and healthy lifestyle with the world, while helping to guide others through the confusing maze of 21st century supermarkets and fad diets. She is co-author of Unjunk Your Junk Food and a 'Parent Ambassador' for Healthy Child Healthy World.
1. “Reducing The Staggering Costs Of Environmental Disease In Children, Estimated At $76.6 Billion In 2008”, Leonardo Trasande, and Yinghua Liu, May 2011
2. “Trends in Blood Lead Levels and Blood Lead Testing Among US Children Aged 1 to 5 Years, 1988–2004”, Robert L. Jones, Et Al., Pediatrics, Vol. 123, No. 3, March 1, 2009
