The news networks were all ablaze last week as how Chinese made toys were recalled because of high lead content. It made me realize that while lead poisoning is a huge issue in the US, we in India are relatively umaware of the effects!

Lead poisoning -- at levels that do not cause immediate symptoms -- can permanently damage kids' brains.

Before their second birthday, children are particularly susceptible to lead poisoning. They are, of course, more likely than older children to put lead-contaminated hands or toys or paint chips in their mouths. Moreover, a child's gastrointestinal tract also absorbs lead more readily than does the adult gut.

Most importantly, a child's rapidly developing brain is highly vulnerable to lead toxicity. I strogly brlieve that it is better to be conservative and safe and not ever sorry about excessive lead exposure.

Lead poisoning is almost never a single event in which a child ingests harmful quantities of lead, gets sick, and must be rushed to the hospital. Instead, lead poisoning is an insidious, month-by-month accumulation of lead in a child's body.

That's why lead-painted toys are such a danger!

If a child just touches and plays with a lead painted toy, it is not a problem. But if that child sits and chews on it for weeks and months and absorbs lead -- that becomes a risk.

What Is Lead Poisoning?

The risks of lead have been known for decades. But there is surprisingly little agreement on exactly when a child has accumulated a toxic amount of lead.

Everybody agrees that there is no "safe" level of lead exposure. However, the CDC ( the Center for disease control- one of the foremost and authoritative agencies globally) doesn't recommend taking action unless a child's blood-lead level exceeds 10 micrograms/dl.

The CDC also says about 310,000 American kids (1 to 5 years old) have blood-lead levels over 10 micrograms/dL. The problem in india is that there are no authentic databases and thus one needs to extrapolate,

A U.S. child's main risk of lead poisoning comes from the lead-based house paints in near-universal use before 1950. How long it takes a child to absorb toxic levels of lead depends on the concentration of lead in the dust.

What Are the Risks of Lead Poisoning?

> Loss of IQ points

> Impairments in language fluency or communication

> Memory problems

> Trouble paying attention

> Lack of concentration

> Poor fine-motor skills

> Difficulty forming abstract concepts

Many of these symptoms don't manifest until age 6 or 7 years. What a parent might know before that might well be some common complaints such as speech delay, hyperactivity, not being able to sit/listen/learn in school, and not being able to focus.

Is Your Child at Risk of Lead Poisoning?

Except in those rare cases in which a child ingests a huge amount of lead, lead poisoning has no obvious, immediate symptoms.

There is a sure way to know whether your child has accumulated dangerous amounts of lead: a simple blood test.

What to Do for Children With Lead Poisoning

Unfortunately, once a child has absorbed a dangerous amount of lead, there's no quick way to make the lead go away.Children with dangerously high blood lead levels -- 45 micrograms/dL or more -- can be treated by chelation. Chelation involves giving a child one of two drugs that quickly remove lead from the blood.

While chelation can save the life of a child with acute lead poisoning. But it does not remove all lead from the body. Most ingested lead is stored in the bones and leaches back into the bloodstream -- and brain -- over time.

The main cure is to get the lead source away from the child. Second, is making sure children with high lead levels get a diet rich in calcium and iron as this helps prevent intestinal absorption of lead and speeds elimination of lead from the body.

Finally while parents may want to do a lot more, however it is important to remember that if lead has been removed from the child's environment and the child gets a healthy diet, lead levels will naturally decrease over time.

(Dr Amit Varma is Chief Operating Officer and Director Critical Care Medicine at Fortis Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital in Delhi)