Lead Health Risks

Lead is known to cause a range of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children under six years of age are most at risk from exposure to lead-based paint because they crawl on the floor and they put their hands and other items which can have lead-based paint dust on them into their mouths. Because their bodies are still growing, children tend to absorb more lead than adults.

Children exposed to lead can suffer from:

• Lowered IQ

• Damage to the brain and nervous system

• Learning and behavioral difficulties

• Slowed growth

• Hearing problems

• Headaches

Adults can suffer from:

• Reproductive problems (in both men and women)

• High blood pressure and hypertension

• Nerve disorders

• Memory and concentration problems

• Muscle and joint pain