Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention

Lead can be very dangerous for children. Lead poisoning can affect your child’s a​bility to learn, pay attention, and behave. There are a number of ways your child could come in contact with lead.

For example, lead is in the paint and dust in homes and buildings built before 1978. Imported foods and brightly colored spices that might have lead in them, like chapulines , turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder or cinnamon. It is also in pots and dishes that are old, handmade, or made outside the U.S. Certain cosmetics and imported candy also contain lead, including candy from Mexico, made with tamarind fruit.

The County of Santa Clara state-funded Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program works to prevent the damaging effects of lead poisoning in children and young adults from birth to age 21. The program uses a multidisciplinary team, including a public health nurse, health education specialist, public health assistant, and registered environmental health specialist.

Through a coordinated team effort, the program provides case management for children and youth diagnosed with or at risk for lead poisoning, education and outreach to reduce lead poisoning, and working with health care providers to ensure timely reporting of lead test results.

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