Occupations include home renovation workers or contractors, positions in battery factories or recycling plants, or lead smelters. These individuals may be bringing home lead dust on their clothing. Does your child live near a battery factory or battery recycling plant or lead smelter. This could mean the general neighborhood is contaminated. Your children, particularly those under the age of four, often play on the floor, and tend to put their hands in their mouths.
Children also tend to absorb lead more easily than adults do because their metabolism is faster.
Lead affects the child's developing nervous system by slowing development. Children are particularly vulnerable up the age of six. The effects include hearing impairment, behavioral problems and a lessening of intelligence. The signs of lead poisoning are difficult to distinguish from normal childhood complaints and sometimes, children show no symptoms at all. Because these symptoms are so general, it's best not to rely on them as indicators of exposure.