Info Pack – Nutrition to Fight Lead Poisoning, Victoria

By Elizabeth O'Brien, BSc, Grad Dip in Educational Studies (Health Educ’n), Manager, Global Lead Advice & Support Service (GLASS) run by The LEAD Group Inc. Australia

In response to blood lead levels above 2 micrograms per decilitre (2 µg/dL) [which is equivalent to 0.1 micromoles per litre (0.1 µmol/L)], we recommend a two-pronged approach:

1. identify the lead source/s and remove the person from the source/s or the source/s from their environment; and

2. institute nutritional intervention by following the advice in this Info Pack.

If anyone in the family has a blood lead above 10 µg/dL the Environmental Health Unit ; Health Protection Branch - Dept of Health should step in and send out their own lead assessor (at no cost to you) to your house. If they refuse to send someone (I can not think of any reason that they might refuse except for a lack of experienced and knowledgeable staff) purchasing one of our DIY- Sampling lab-analysis lead test kits (see DIY_sampling_lead_analysis_kits_flyer_20111214.pdf) is your best option, (or asking the Environmental Health Unit to purchase one for use at your home) as the samples are collected by you (or the Environmental Health Officer) but posted to a lab for analysis (the cost of analysis and an interpretive report is included in the kit price).

Note that the most usual exposure pathway for lead poisoning in young children is ingestion (from the fingers or objects that go in the mouth) of dust or soil, so dust wipe samples and soil samples from areas in the home and yard that are accessed by the child/ren, are the best samples to test for lead. But for adults, the most usual exposure pathway (excluding lead-contaminated medicines, beverages, food or cosmetics) is inhalation - most often during renovation or demolition activities on older buildings, but also during many hobby and occupational exposure scenarios. You should go through all the sources and pathways of lead poisoning that we have managed to list (it is by no means including ALL lead sources as new sources are created regularly) at lasn006.html before determining what to test (if anything needs testing once you get the blood lead test results).

Our Info Pack 23 on "Nutrition to Fight Lead Poisoning" is online! For the full newsletter on the topic (including links to all references) please go to:

A. LEAD Action News Vol 10 No 2 (LANv10n2) Food, Nutrition and Lead Absorption - newsletter including articles on veganism and nutrition to fight lead poisoning:

LEAD_Action_News_vol_10_no_2.pdf

AND

B. Fact sheet: Nutrients that reduce lead poisoning (a summary of the above newsletter article):

Fact_sheet-Nutrients_that_reduce_lead_poisoning_June_2010.pdf

If it turns out that iron deficiency is a problem in any of the family members, then you will also want to look at:

C. LEAD Action News Vol 9 No 3 (LANv9n3) Iron Nutrition and Lead Toxicity (major article) .Iron_Nutrition_and_Lead_Toxicity_Full.pdf

AND

D. Fact Sheet - Iron Nutrition and Lead Toxicity (a summary of the above newsletter): Iron_Nutrition_&_Lead_Toxicity_Fact_Sheet_20090630.pdf