Any house or apartment built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. Most homes built before 1960 contain lead-based paint. Lead-based paint produced before 1960 contains higher concentrations of lead than paint manufactured in later years.
Lead-based paint can be on walls, ceilings, woodwork, windows, and sometimes floors. When lead-based paint on these surfaces is broken, sanded, or scraped, it breaks into tiny, sometimes invisible, pieces that your child may swallow or inhale. Even small repair and renovation jobs, including repainting projects, can create enough lead dust and chips to harm your child.
CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING:
Lead poisoning in children is preventable. The key is stopping children from coming into contact with lead and treating children who have been poisoned by lead. Once a child has been poisoned the impairment it may cause is irreversible.
All children under the age of 6 years are at risk because they are growing so rapidly and because they tend to put their hands or other objects, which may be contaminated with lead-based paint or lead contaminated dust into their mouths.
Lead poisoning causes irreversible damage to the brain and nervous system as well as the heart and red blood cells resulting in:
The harmful effects of lead poisoning are permanent. The only cure is prevention!
For more information go to:
Connecticut Department of Public Health, Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Program: https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Environmental-Health/Lead-Poisoning-Prevention-and-Control/Lead-Poisoning-Prevention-and-Control-Program
To Find Application Sites in Connecticut’s Community Resources Database:
Search by service names:
Lead Poisoning Screening
Environmental Hazards Cleanup for Lead Poisoning
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SOURCES: Connecticut Department of Public Health; CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning
PREPARED BY: 211/mm
CONTENT LAST REVIEWED: May2023