Abstract
Lead is a naturally occurring element that has been used by humankind for millennia, but a growing body of evidence confirms its serious toxicity for virtually all bodily systems. This paper reviews and discusses the relevant peer-reviewed and academic literature concerning lead exposure and poisoning and to determine their effects children’s academic performance. In addition, a discussion concerning the implications of the adverse effect of lead exposure and poisoning on children’s performance at school is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.
The Effect of Lead Poisoning on Children's Performance at School
Although it is a preventable disease, lead exposure in general and lead poisoning among children in particular remains a serious problem in the United States today. Lead poisoning is caused by the consumption of lead in some form including dust particles and lead-based paint chips (Lead poisoning still leads in environmental risk issues, 2009). Lead poisoning can affect individuals of any age from virtually any walk of life, but minority young people from lower socioeconomic families tend to suffer disproportionately in spite of aggressive efforts by the federal government to reduce the use of lead in occupational settings as well as in household paints and gasoline products (Lead poisoning, 2009) and even the lead solder used in household and commercial plumbing (Miranda & Anthopolos, 2011). In fact, current estimates indicate that at least 4 million young people in America live are at risk (Children and lead poisoning, 2017) and between a half million (McGill, 2013) and one million children in the U. S. already have dangerously high blood levels of lead above 5 micrograms per deciliter, the level at which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends the commencement of public health actions (Lead poisoning, 2009). To determine the facts about this troubling this issue, this paper provides a review and discussion of the relevant literature to provide an overview of lead and lead poisoning and to determine the effect of lead poisoning on children’s performance at school. Finally, a discussion concerning the implications of lead poisoning’s adverse effect on children’s academic performance is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning the effect of lead poisoning on children’s academic performance are provided in the conclusion.
Overview of lead, lead exposure and lead poisoning
Although the element has a number of valuable commercial uses (Learn about lead, 2017), lead is enormously toxic to humans and there have been no safe blood lead levels for children identified in the research to date (Lead, 2017). In fact, lead poisoning is currently the most common environmental health problem affecting children in the United States (Endres & Montgomery, 2009). Although adults are also at risk, children are at greater risk of being harmed by lead exposure because the substance is more readily absorbed by them compared to adults, and their body tissues are especially sensitive to the harmful effects of lead (Currie, 2010). The high level of toxicity also means that exposure to lead can adversely impact almost all bodily systems (Lead, 2017).
Exposure to lead, however, may go unnoticed in children because there may not be any clearly discernible symptoms (Lead, 2017). Some of the more common symptoms and signs of lead poisoning in children include the following:
· Developmental delay;
· Learning difficulties;
· Irritability;
· Loss of appetite;
· Weight loss;
· Sluggishness and fatigue;
· Abdominal pain;
· Vomiting;
· Constipation;
· Hearing loss;
· Seizures; and,
· Pica (i.e., eating paint chips) (Overview of lead poisoning, 2017).
Moreover, these symptoms can persist well into adolescent and adulthood as well (Endres & Montgomery, 2009).
Although the majority of American homes constructed prior...
References
Chandramouli, K. & Steer, C. D. (2009, September 21). Effects of early childhood lead exposure on academic performance and behavior of school age children. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 94(11), 844-848.
Children and lead poisoning. (2017). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/.
Currie, J. (2009, Spring). Health disparities and gaps in school readiness. The Future of Children, 15(1), 117-121.
Currie, J. (2010, November 4). Early exposure to lead could affect learning and behavior. (2009, November 4). Nursing Standard, 7.
Endres, J. & Montgomery, J. (2009, January-February). Lead poison prevention: A comparative review of brochures. Journal of Environmental Health, 64(6), 20-24.
Evens, A. (2015). The impact of low-level lead toxicity on school performance among children in the Chicago Public Schools: a population-based retrospective cohort study. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 14(1), 1-9.
Lead. (2017). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/.
Lead poisoning still leads in environmental risk issues. (2009, April). Public Management, 82(4), 37.
Learn about lead. (2017). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/lead/learn-about-lead.
Overview of lead poisoning. (2017). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/ diseases-conditions/lead-poisoning/symptoms-causes/syc-20354717.
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