Lead: The Latest Federal Actions and Best Practices

Lead has an old and even ancient legacy of harm to humans. 1 Despite this history, lead was widely used in the development of consumer goods used for and around children in the United States during the industrial era. 2 The decision to use it in two widely distributed commercial products created a public health nightmare.Leaded gasoline and leaded paint robbed countless children and adults of opportunities for greater economic prosperity, educational achievement, and deeper social engagement. 3Moreover, death and disease have been visited upon millions of unsuspecting families and individuals around the world because of their exposure to lead. 4 In the United States alone, deaths attributable to lead exposure have been estimated at over four hundred thousand. 5 At the global level, the World Health Organization has made the following determinations:Lead exposure can have serious consequences for the health of children.At high levels of exposure to lead the brain and central nervous system can be severely damaged, which could result in a coma, convulsions, and even death.Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with permanent intellectual disability and behavioral disorders.At lower levels of exposure that cause no obvious symptoms, lead is now known to produce a spectrum of injury across multiple body systems.In particular, lead can affect children's brain development, resulting in reduced intelligence quotient (IQ), behavioral changes such as reduced --------------