Unleaded, Please…
Crowley’s 15-month-old check up went well. Height… above average. Weight… average. New round of vaccinations. Everything normal until I asked this question.
“By the way, what were the results of Crowley’s lead test from his 12-month check up?”
“Let me check,” doc says as he flips through Crowley’s chart, “He scored a 4. Nothing to worry about. We worry at ‘5′ and above.”
All I heard was, “He scored a ‘4.’”
And so the journalist in me bolted to the surface and the grilling began.
A ‘4′?
How could he have any lead in his blood?
Where is it coming from?
That’s only one sample, what if this blood sample represents the beginning of lead exposure and the number is climbing?
What kind of developmental issues occur at even low lead levels?
Will it clear his system?
And on and on and on and on. Even after I left the appointment the questions continued one after another in my head, growing louder and louder and truly deafening by 3 am.
Let’s start with what we know. According to my doctor, a level of ‘4′ is not harmful to Crowley’s development. That being said, it would be a good idea to find the source of exposure and eliminate it. The doctor recommended we look at the water in our house, drink bottled water in the meantime and gave us a prescription for fluoride. He also said that, in time, the lead will clear Crowley’s system.
On the way home, I cried. I don’t care what anybody says, anything above a ‘0′ is not okay with me. I felt like I failed in protecting my child. It was hard to get perspective. It just felt heavy. Totally unacceptable. And as I began to do my homework, I realized that fixing the problem wasn’t going to happen overnight… which I hated.
And so the search began. We live in a house built in 1925. I sent a water sample to a lab for analysis. (Helpful tip: when picking a lab, pick one that doesn’t sell equipment to fix a lead issue. That way you can be sure the results are straight forward and not part of a sales pitch).
Whenever Crowley napped or went down for the night, I got busy researching lead. I devoured medical journals and policy papers, including the Federal government’s exhaustive resources about lead. Here’s what I learned. There is NO safe level of lead in a child. Even so, most medical guidelines say anything greater than ‘10′ requires immediate action. But not that long ago the threshold was even higher. Which tells me something: the more they learn about lead, the lower that threshold becomes. This only spurred me on to find the source in our house and eliminate it.
We tested all of the interior paint. We tested all of Crowley’s painted toys. We tested his crib. Everything tested lead free. We were stumped. It had to be the water. But that test won’t come back for 10 days! An eternity. And then it hit us!… And we turned to our furniture. We don’t have much in the way of painted furniture. Two pieces actually. But only one Crowley touches with regularity…. an antique pine cabinet. It was originally meant for holding jars of jelly and other food back in the early 1900s. As such, it’s difficult to use for anything else. But, Crowley loves to open it, store his stuffed animals on the shelves and steady himself as he was learning to stand on his own. Whenever a teething pang hit… the cabinet even has a latch he would gnaw on. You can probably guess where this is headed. When we tested the cabinet, it tested positive. To look at it, very little of the original paint remains, but what is there… has lead.
Test positive for lead
When the test went positive, Mike’s eyes watered. I felt a weight lift. Everyone always tells you to watch for old interior house paint and lead pipes… antique furniture just never entered my brain as a threat.
Crowley playing with the cabinet that would eventually test positive for lead.
The cabinet is gone. Mike got rid of it in seconds, cursing as as he banished it. All the toys that ever touched it are in the trash. The entire house has been cleaned to the point that I would happily eat off the floors. All the upholstery that lived near the demon cabinet has been laundered.
When the water test came back last week with no lead present, we were not surprised. The cabinet was the only source.
And so we move on. A diet high in Vitamin ‘C’, iron and calcium, research shows, will limit his body’s absorption and help him clear the lead. That’s what I focus on… clearing the lead and preventing future exposure.
I love Crowley and want to give him every chance at success and happiness. I share this story because so many have told me that their children haven’t been tested for lead. It’s an automatic here in Roanoke and thank goodness. I would have never thought to have Crowley tested because I would have never thought he’d been exposed to lead. I am so grateful to have had the chance to fix the problem. Also, as obvious as it seems now, I would have never thought to check antique furniture for lead. Lesson learned.
Lead free or bust… Anna
