Lead from paint, chips, and dust can pose serious health hazards if not taken care of properly.

Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born. Even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies. People can get lead in their bodies by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.

file photo: shows an employee of the French non-governmental Organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Border – MSF) giving medicine to a child suffering from lead poisoning at Bukkuyum General Hospital in the town of Gusau in Nigeria’s northwest Zamfara State. AFP PHOTO/

People have many options for reducing lead hazards. In most cases, lead_based paint that is in good condition is not a hazard.

Removing lead-based paint improperly can increase the danger to your family.

While low-lead exposure is most common, Exposure to high levels of lead can have devastating effects on children, including seizures, unconsciousness, and, in some cases, death. Although children are especially susceptible to lead exposure, lead can be dangerous for adults too.

Even children who appear healthy can have dangerous levels of lead in their bodies.

In adults, lead can cause: increased chance of illness during pregnancy, harm to a fetus, including brain damage or death, fertility problems (in men and women) and high blood pressure.

Other problems include: nerve disorders, memory and concentration problems as well as muscle and joint pain.

How lead gets into the body
People can get lead in their body if they: breathe in lead dust especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces; put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths or eat paint chips or soil that contains lead.