Blog
My Children Had Lead Poisoning And Yours May Too
Expert Opinion
Thursday, September 29, 2011
by Tamara Rubin, Founder, The Lead Safe America Foundation
Our children were poisoned by the work of a contractor that we hired to paint the exterior our beautiful, Colonial Revival-period home in the Historic Irvington neighborhood in Portland, Oregon.
The painter told us he was certified to safely handle the lead paint used on houses built prior to 1978 (a certification necessary in order to prepare the exterior surfaces for painting.) His bid seemed high ($18,000+) but we were willing to pay it because we believed his training/certification would ensure that the work was done safely.
He also told us it was safe to stay in our home while he did the work as he was "only working on the exterior and therefore there was no risk at all posed to our children."
He lied. Not only was he not certified, but he used the most dangerous and even illegal methods for paint removal: pressure washing, dry scraping and open-flame-torch burning. Our children became violently ill with flu-like symptoms (we later learned this was from inhaling the fumes from the heated/vaporized lead paint—which, contrary to the contractor's naive assurances, actually permeate an entire neighborhood! When we had them tested we were told they had lead poisoning and that we needed to move out of our home until the property could be decontaminated and be made safe for them to live in again.
As a result of this lie and the actions of this painter, our children have permanent/irreversible brain damage that has caused and will continue to cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, aggression, headaches and other physical and neurological symptoms for the rest of their lives.
Avi (pictured above at about 1 year old) was poisoned when he was only 8 months old. He was not crawling yet. He was solely breast feeding. He did not eat paint chips or even have access to floor dust. We did not live in a low-income neighborhood (far from it! - the appraised value of the home in 2007 was $670,000). And our home had been remodeled, was generally in good shape and did not have peeling, chipping paint anywhere. We did not fit the outdated, preconceived demographic for lead poisoning and it took us nearly two months from the time the boys were poisoned to get them diagnosed because our pediatrician at Kaiser did not think to consider lead poisoning as a possibility.
Unfortunately, pediatricians don't routinely test all children for this increasingly common and preventable disease. They preselect based on stereotypes and forty-year-old demographics [poor children in sub-standard inner city housing] that don't match today's at-risk population for lead poisoning [a demographic which has been expanded to include children of middle and upper income homeowners renovating "classic" (older construction) houses.] With the ubiquity and levels of microscopic lead dust present in and around today's older buildings (our homes, schools, libraries, stores, etc. an incalculable number of sources), it is prudent that all children—including yours be tested.
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October is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Month, and Healthy Child Healthy World encourages you to take some time to learn about danger zones in your home and how to protect your children. Here are some resources for getting started:
Editor’s Note: Each year, we invite our community to help us identify exceptional moms working in their communities to create a healthier environment for children.
We get so many wonderful submissions, we’ve started a blog series to feature the inspirational stories of our nominees - like Tamara’s story above. Stay tuned for the announcement of our 2011 “Mom on a Mission” winner in October who will receive a $5,000 grant from Lifetime Television to continue her work and will be honored at a Healthy Child event in New York City.
Posted by Bill Hannegan on 10/09/2011 at 10:12 AM
I am very sceptical that the tiny exposures to the children cause by a torch outdoors could have caused catastrophic effects.
Posted by Jan Q on 10/01/2011 at 05:15 AM
Vitamin C, iron and calcium can help push out the lead from the bloodstream. I also heard fresh Cilantro does that, too. Does anyone know of other foods or herbs that help with this?
Posted by carma on 09/30/2011 at 02:17 PM
I am so sorry that this happened to your family, but I want to thank you for shedding light on this issue.
Posted by Shell on 09/30/2011 at 11:40 AM
My middle son also has lead poisoning. The effects are so awful. It breaks my heart that he struggles so much because of this. And we don’t fit into any of the at-risk demographic, either.
Posted by Mindy Allen on 09/30/2011 at 05:51 AM
Tamara,
Thank you for your dedication and your vigilance in helping raise awareness to prevent this from happening to other families!
With the proper education and information we can really help make a difference in preventing unecessary exposure to lead, and the horrific ramifications that it can have on personal health.
The most important step - and the only way to truly make a difference across the board - is to have a government mandate issued to force pediatricians to test for lead and ensure they understand the dangers and health risks associated with lead levels.
Best,
Mindy Allen
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Posted by Tamara Rubin on 10/09/2011 at 01:22 PM
Thanks to each of you for your comments so far. Please feel free to contact me directly too - at lead safe@me.com.
Since I launched my new nonprofit - the Lead Safe America Foundation in June, we have been contacted every day by families all over the country who have concerns about lead in their homes - or who have just found out their child has been poisoned. Right now we are helping a family with 8 children who were poisoned by there rental home in Rochester, NY and another family with a 20 month old little girl who was hospitalized for elevated lead levels in Putnam, CT. Especially in this era of government cutbacks (when public agencies no longer have the resources to help so many of these families) we need your help to be in a position to continue reaching out to these families & providing them with support and resources. Your contribution in any amount (even just $5 or $10 or $25) would make a difference in our ability to continue to help families around the country. There is a paypal link to donate with a credit card on our website http://www.leadsafeamerica.org or tax-deductible contributions can be sent to: Lead Safe America Foundation, P.O. Box 820044, Portland, Oregon 97282. Thank you.