As a result, lead has been eliminated as an ingredient in many consumer products, such as paint. In Kosovo, two factories pollute the air with lead, and the lead dust eventually drops to the ground.
People carry the lead dust into their homes on their shoes.
The lead gets into children's bodies when they put their fingers, which can get dirty with dust containing lead, into their mouths. An internationl team of scientists is studying how the lead pollution is affecting 334 children who were born in Kosovo in the middle 1980s. The scientists compare these children with other children in a nearby town where lead dust is not a problem. So far, the scientists have found that children with high amounts of lead in their bodies do not do as well in tests that measure mental development. This could mean that the lead dust may make these children less intelligent.