Lead poisoning prevention is important for children in Arizona
Mar 14, 2016, 8:00 AM
Lead poisoning from water is a huge issue in the news lately, especially in certain areas of the country. But in Arizona, it’s primarily affecting children from lead based paint in older homes, imported goods and from certain occupations and hobbies.
“In Arizona in 2015, we had over 400 cases of lead poisoning in children reported,” said Arizona Department of Health Services Chief of Epidemiology and Disease Control Jessica Rigler.
Certain zip-codes have been identified as ‘high-risk’ based on a number of factors.
“We want parents to know that if they’ve got a child that’s 12-24 months of age and they’re living in one of the high risk zip-codes, they need to be asking their pediatrician for a blood lead screening test so they can be assured that their child is not lead poisoned,” Rigler explained.
Prevention is important, especially for children, but not necessarily because of our water.
“None of our recent investigations into elevated blood lead levels in children have identified water as the source of the lead poisoning,” she said.
Rigler added that the challenge with lead is that it’s a silent poison, so really the only way to know that your child has been lead poisoned is to complete a blood lead test.
