How lead poisoning affects children's health

When this metal accumulates in the body, it will seriously affect the brain, heart, bones, teeth, kidneys... of children.

In 2011-2012, the Bach Mai Hospital Poison Control Center received 2,550 children with lead poisoning. In 2014, screening tests on 109 children in Dong Mai village (Hung Yen) showed that 97% of them had lead poisoning in their blood. Of these, 33 children had to undergo emergency lead detoxification because their blood lead levels were 6-7 times higher than the allowable limit.

Harmful effects of lead poisoning

When children are infected with lead, it will directly affect the following organs:

Brain: decreased IQ, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), hearing loss and nerve damage.

Hormones: lead interferes with vitamin D metabolism, impairs cell division, and limits bone and tooth development.

Cardiovascular: inhibits hemoglobin production leading to anemia; reduces oxygen absorption by organs, causing shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, fatigue...

Kidney: Lead exposure causes chronic nephritis, kidney failure, and leads to a number of symptoms such as: blood in the urine, nausea, high fever, and urinary composition disorders.

Bones and teeth: hinder bone growth, inhibit tooth growth, degenerate cartilage, causing osteoporosis.

Reproductive system: disrupts testicular development in children, can cause reproductive diseases such as infertility, having children with birth defects...

Prevention of lead poisoning

According to WHO, lead poisoning from drinking water accounts for up to 20% of the total causes. Metal water pipes that have rusted over time are at high risk of lead contamination. This is the reason why lead enters the body silently, accumulating a little bit each day, causing the body to absorb a significant amount of lead over a long period of time.

The water pipe system is contaminated with lead.

To ensure health safety, especially for children, you should bring water samples to specialized agencies to test for heavy metals, toxic chemicals, bacteria, etc. that may be present. At the same time, each family should check whether their water source is really safe or not. In case the water source is found to not meet safety standards, measures must be taken to ensure safety before use.

According to the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health (under the Ministry of Health), depending on the family's economic conditions, one can choose one of the following treatment methods: simple water filtration tank combined with rain system; heat sterilization such as boiling; chemical sterilization; using water filtration equipment...

Currently, there are many different filtration methods, of which the advanced and widely used filtration method is reverse osmosis (RO) or commonly known as RO water purifier.

In Vietnam in recent years, the RO water purifier market has become popular, hundreds of brands have been born and many of them are fake, counterfeit, poor quality products, significantly affecting consumers. Therefore, since the beginning of 2016, the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment has conducted the assessment and certification of national standards for direct drinking water QCVN6-1 for reputable water purifier brands on the market.

To grant this certificate, the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment must carry out a strict testing and evaluation process according to WHO guidelines, ensuring that the water source meets the standards of 27 chemical and physical elements and toxic microorganisms within the permissible threshold, ensuring that it does not harm human health.

According to Zing.vn