Parents, Pregnant Women, and Kids

Lead-exposed children may experience hearing loss, delayed physical growth, speech deficits, and anemia. Some other signs of high lead could be loss of appetite, vomiting, irritability, stomach ache, and fatigue.

Most children have no symptoms. The only way to know for sure if your child has dangerous levels of lead in his or her blood is to ask your doctor for a blood lead test.

When a pregnant woman is exposed to lead, her fetus is also exposed. Women exposed to lead have increased risk of miscarriage, pre-term labor, anemia, hypertension, and other adverse health effects. Infants exposed to lead prentally have a higher incidence of low birth weight, prematurity, and fetal death.

Go to our consumer safety page for lead poisoning prevention ideas, children’s toy recalls, and children’s product recalls.

Tips to reduce exposure:

• Use work practices that do not spread contaminated lead dust
• Do not store, cook, or eat food from lead-contaminated pottery
• Be aware of consumer products that contain lead
• Don’t bring home lead from work on your body or clothing

• Parents
  • How to reduce lead exposure at home
  • Nutrition tips to prevent lead poisoning
  • State Publications about Lead (in several languages)
  • Lead-poisoned kids
  • Lead in Your Home (PDF)
  • Study shows no safe lead levels (PDF)
• Pregnant Women
  • Pregnant? Are you at risk?
  • Risks during pregnancy
• Kids
  • Snack Attack (Eng-SP pdf)

• Find out if your child is at risk
• Lower Lead Level Petition
• Join GTLO
• Raise the issue of lead poisoning with your doctors, schools, building officials, churches, environmental groups, and elected representatives.