The Johnson family just moved into their new home. Their younger children run in and out of the back door to play in the yard. Their older children go in and out of the front door to visit with friends. Their infant spends time playing on the floor with toys while the parents go about their day. Since it’s a beautiful sunny day, they open the windows to experience the fresh Spring air! A perfect day in the life of a young family.
But, every time the doors open and close, the friction points of the door and the door jamb rub against one another and release invisible dust. Every time the windows are opened and shut, more friction, more dust.
Every time they go from one room to another, opening and closing each room’s door, more invisible dust. If their home or apartment was constructed before 1978, there is the chance that each release of dust contains lead.
Their infant innocently crawls on the floor, their moist, soft hands gathering the dust. He put his hands in his mouth, sucking and chewing. He picks up his toys (covered in the invisible dust) and puts them in his mouth. Mom fixes lunch on the kitchen counter, which is covered with invisible dust, then sets the infant in his highchair on which the fold-down tabletop is covered with invisible lead dust. Dad feeds the infant the food which was delightfully placed on the contaminated plates.
No surprise now that this infant is suffering from lead poisoning.
How do we prevent this? We recommend two things.
- clean any surface then is near or has lead-based paint on it. This drastically reduces the risk of the infant getting lead poisoning
- Paint over the surface. This is the most effective way in reducing the risk of lead-based paint exposure because you are essentially installing a barrier between you and the lead-based paint.
To learn more or to join our BREATHE HEALTHY Initiative, visit baxtergroupinc.com. Request a copy of our BREATHE HEALTHY ebook.
