New Lead Threshold Recommended

The Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention recommended on January 5, 2012 that the CDC lower the level of concern for lead from 10 micrograms to 5 micrograms. The NIH also recently endorsed lowering the threshold. While I am encouraged by this recommendation, I am skeptical that it will make any difference. The CDC has known for several years that an overwhelming amount of research shows damage from lead exposure at levels down to 2 micrograms. What have they done about this? Well they made a nice little FAQ page on their website addressing all the reasons that they are not going to lower the level of concern even though they are aware of the research. It is estimated that if they lower the level, lead poisoning diagnosis will go from 250,000 cases to as many as 1,000,000. That number is staggering. One million children with cognitive delays, memory and attention issues, and other learning disabilities a year! One million children born healthy and irreversibly damage by their environment. One million children like my sweet little boy. We need more awareness of this issue and more safeguards in place. We need better laws on testing imported toys and dishware and more consequences when lead is found in these items. There needs to be protection for renters and buyers of older homes as well and more financial help with professional lead abatement.