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Learn how to reduce children’s exposure to lead

NEW CITY, NY, – During Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Sunday, October 23 – Saturday, October 29, 2022, Rockland County Executive Ed Day and County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert warn residents that lead continues to be a major cause of poisoning among children and can seriously harm a child’s health. Children younger than 6 are most at risk for lead poisoning since their nervous system is developing, and lead is easily absorbed. They are also at higher risk of exposure to lead because young children tend to put their fingers and toys in their mouths.

Every year, National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW) highlights the many ways parents can reduce children’s exposure to lead, prevent its serious health effects, and learn about the importance of testing children for lead. NLPPW raises awareness about the danger of lead exposure and poisoning. The Health Department is conducting a “Get the Facts. Get your Child Tested. Get your Home Tested. #Lead-Free Kids” awareness campaign during NLPPW. As part of NLPPW, a children’s art project that emphasizes and shows how to wash lead out of homes will be shared online. Posters with children’s lead poisoning prevention artwork will be displayed on our Rockland County Facebook and Twitter pages and our website at http://bit.ly/LeadPoisoningPrevention.

Lead can be found inside and outside the home, including in the water that travels through lead pipes or in the soil around the house. The most common source of exposure is from lead-based paint. Homes built before 1978 may have lead-painted windowsills, window frames, and walls. When old paint is sanded, scraped, brushed, burned, or cracks and peels due to wear and tear, it makes lead dust. Adults and children can get lead into their bodies by breathing in lead dust (especially during activities such as renovations, repairs, or painting). They can also get lead into their bodies by swallowing lead dust that settles in food, food preparation surfaces, floors, windowsills, eating paint chips, soil containing lead, or other places. Children can become exposed to lead dust from adults’ jobs or hobbies and from some metal toys or toys painted with lead-based paint. Avoid some products imported from the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, and India.

To prevent exposure, it is important to keep floors, play areas, windowsills, and baseboards clean. Use a wet mop or wipe clean these areas once a week. Keep children from playing outside in the dirt, keep indoor and outdoor toys separate, and regularly wash children’s faces, hands, toys, and pacifiers. If your child’s lead level is high: 5 μg/dL or greater, the Rockland County Health Department will talk to you about how to protect your child and will visit your home to help you find the sources of lead exposure.

“There is no safe blood lead level in children. Even low levels of lead in the blood can cause developmental delays, difficulty learning, behavioral issues, and neurological damage. The effects of lead poisoning can be permanent and disabling. Lead can also be a problem for adults, as pregnant women can pass lead to their babies, putting them at risk of miscarriage or causing the baby to be born too early or too small. The good news is that childhood and in-utero lead poisoning is 100% preventable,” said Dr. Ruppert.

Parents can reduce a child’s exposure to lead in many ways. Here are some simple things you can do to get ahead of lead:

• Get your child tested. New York State requires healthcare providers to test all children for lead with a simple blood lead test at ages one and two. At every well-child visit up to age six, healthcare providers must ask parents about any contact their child might have had with lead. If there’s been a chance of contact, providers are required to test for lead again.
• Renovate your home in a lead-safe way. Contact your local town or village before renovating or remodeling to find out if a building permit is required. Renovate right with lead-safe work practices. For information about remodeling or renovating in a lead-safe way, or to find a contractor or inspector, visit the EPA website at www.epa.gov/lead. Before you buy an older home, consider a lead inspection. To learn about your rights before you buy or lease, visit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website https://www.epa.gov/lead/real-estate-disclosures-about-potential-lead-hazards.
• Clean your home to prevent lead dust. Regularly clean floors, windowsills, and other surfaces using a wet mop or wipe.
• Feed your family foods that can help prevent lead poisoning. Food high in iron, calcium, and vitamin C makes it difficult for lead to be absorbed in the body. For more information on specific foods and tips, visit https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/6672.pdf.
• Get the facts. The Health Department can provide you with helpful information about preventing childhood lead poisoning, call (845) 364-2585, (845) 364-2558, or visit http://bit.ly/LeadPoisoningPrevention.

For more information on how to reduce children’s exposure to lead in their environment and prevent its serious health effects, visit the CDC’s NLPPW website https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/national-lead-poisoning-prevention-week.htm. 

NEW CITY, NY, – Rockland County Executive Ed Day and County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert remind residents to protect themselves, their children, and their pets from tick bites, especially during hiking, hunting, fishing, raking leaves, or taking part in other outdoor activities. You are still at risk for tick bites in the fall months, as ticks can stay active until the temperature falls below freezing or the ground is completely covered in snow.

A bite from an infected blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, can cause Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases, such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis. These tick-borne diseases are commonly occurring in the Lower Hudson Valley. Ticks are generally found in shaded and humid environments such as heavily wooded areas and tall grasses. However, in the fall, ticks also hide under leaves in backyards and parks.

“After you spend time in the outdoors, it is important to do a full-body check for ticks. This can help, protect you and your family from tick-borne diseases this fall season” said Dr. Ruppert.

Follow these tips to help protect against tick bites:

• Dress in clothes that protect. Wear light-colored clothing, such as white or pastels. Wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, socks, and shoes. Tuck your shirt into your pants and pant-legs into your socks. Wear sneakers or boots, not sandals. Tie back long hair or wear a hat.
• Consider the use of an insect repellent. Carefully read and follow the directions on the repellent label. Some products should be used only on clothing, never on the skin. Talk to your child’s doctor about using repellent on your children. Never let children put repellent on themselves.
• Check your skin for ticks daily. When outside, check your skin and clothing for ticks. Check often when in grassy or wooded areas. Brush any ticks off before they attach. Do a complete check of your skin when you go back inside. Common areas on the body to check for ticks are the thighs, groin, trunk, and armpits. Bathe or shower as soon as possible after going indoors (best within two hours) to wash off and find ticks that may be on you. Do a final, full-body tick check at the end of the day (also check children and pets).
• Remove ticks quickly and safely. To lessen your chance of infection, remove an attached tick as soon as possible. Remove any attached ticks using this safe method: Using fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick near the mouthparts as close to the skin as possible. Do not twist, turn, or squeeze the tick’s body. Instead, pull the tick in a steady, upward motion away from the skin until the tick lets go. After removing the tick, clean the bite area and your hands very well with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. For more information on tick bites, visit https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/pdfs/FS_TickBite-508.pdf. For tick identification, call the Cornell Cooperative Extension Horticultural Lab at (845) 429-7085.
• Learn the symptoms of Lyme disease. After a tick bite, watch for Lyme disease symptoms for at least 30 days. Symptoms can include tiredness, headache, stiff neck, slight fever, swollen glands, muscle or joint pain, and a red circular rash (called erythema migrans) that often appears at the site of the tick bite, usually within 3 to 14 days after the bite of an infected tick. The rash then grows larger. The center of the rash may clear as it enlarges, resulting in a “bull’s-eye” appearance. Sometimes many rashes appear, varying in shape and size. See your doctor if you have any of these symptoms or are feeling ill.
• Do I need antibiotics after a tick bite? Although not routinely recommended, taking antibiotics within three days of a tick bite may benefit a person living in an area where deer ticks infected with Lyme disease are common, and there is evidence that the tick fed for more than one day. Rockland County is an area of concern for deer ticks and Lyme disease. Ticks have flattened, tear-shaped bodies at all stages of growth. If you are bitten by a tick, and its shape is not flat (i.e., engorged), it is a sign that it had a blood meal. This could put you at risk for common tick-borne disease transmission. If you experience a case like this, discuss the possibilities of antibiotics with your doctor.

“Be watchful when you venture outside this fall. Prevention remains the most effective method to protect yourself and your loved ones from being bitten by an infected tick” said County Executive Day.

Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent severe and long-term symptoms. If left untreated, Lyme disease is a potentially debilitating disease that can affect several organ systems and cause symptoms like fatigue, joint pain, arthritis, facial paralysis, heart problems, and neurological disorders.

For more information, visit our Tick-borne Disease Education and Prevention Program or call the Health Department at (845) 364-2500.