When water sits in pipes for several hours, lead in the pipes or solder leaches out into the water. Infants can become lead poisoned when their formula is prepared with lead-contaminated water from the kitchen faucet. Sometimes children are exposed to heavy amounts of lead when their homes are renovated or when leaded paint is stripped from walls and woodwork. The mild acidity of the juice slowly leaches the lead out of the glaze and results in unsuspected lead poisoning. The bad news is that 2 percent of our population still has blood lead levels of more than 10 micrograms per deciliter, and many are young children living in communities with old, deteriorating housing.
Children often have anemia or abnormal kidney function also.
But lead poisoning in children usually occurs without signs or symptoms until the lead burden becomes extreme. What is of most concern is new evidence that suggests lead poisoning may result in abnormal infant and childhood development, with such problems as lack of attention, decreased hearing and learning difficulties. Because lead poisoning is more likely to be associated with poor housing and poor nutrition, children in poverty are at the highest risk for lead poisoning. And the lead burden they bear may also put them at risk for abnormal development and school failure. Lead poisoning can be treated, using medications like EDTA, succimer or dimercaprol, to chelate the lead and allow it to be excreted in the urine.