Lack of routine testing means many children could be suffering from effects of poisoning, experts say That a GP tested one child’s excessive lead levels was unusual, experts said, because the UK does not routinely test lead levels in children.
For six months this year, Xena Buckle quarantined her family into the one room in her council house in south London that she knew would not poison her six-year-old son. Tests had just revealed that the toxic metal lead was present in Rhegon’s blood at almost twice the UK’s medical intervention level of 5 microgrammes per decilitre. Flaking lead paint in the property was to blame. The UK is home to some of the oldest housing in the world, and many homes still have lead paint, which as it flakes and rubs off walls, windows and door frames creates a poisonous dust that can be harmful to humans if ingested. Before it was banned in 1992, lead paint in the UK may have contained up to 50 per cent lead by weight, “which is potentially capable of causing lead poisoning in a small child if they eat just a single flake”, according to government guidance published in October. The well-established health risks associated with exposure to the metal — which has a harmful impact on almost every organ in the human body — have led to a ban on its use in petrol, domestic paint and pipes in the UK. But experts said a lack of routine testing meant hundreds of thousands of children would be silently suffering from the effects of lead poisoning.
https://www.ft.com/content/e0f09d7f-5f05-4902-8778-c0ee7a13cbcd
Comments