The Morgan County Health Department is reminding residents to be alert to the dangers of lead poisoning in the home.
Any building constructed prior to 1978 likely still has lead paint lying under the surface of the current finish which can be harmful to children if they are exposed.
Deanette Schwanke with the Morgan County Health Department says even though state and federal authorities are pushing to help municipalities remove old lead water service lines from their systems, the biggest danger to children from lead still comes from inside the home.
“Most of your lead is going to come from the contaminated dust and the deterioration and disturbance of lead-based paints. So yes, you can have a very minimal amount in old pipes, but most of it is coming from your dust and your dust and your paint in your homes.”
Schwanke says in 2022, 194,000 children in Illinois were tested for lead and approximately 15,000 came back with concerning lead levels, and of those, approximately 5,000 children had lead levels high enough to trigger an investigation into lead mitigation for their homes.
Schwanke says the most common way a child ingests lead is by coming into contact with lead dust and then putting their fingers in their mouth. She says lead can cause serious health issues in young children.
“So it’s a small number but it can cause kids to have delayed learning, lower IQ, lower growth, slower growth with behavioral problems as they start to get older.”
Children are regularly tested for lead at ages one and two as well as before they enter kindergarten.
For more information, or if you suspect your house might have lead that could be dangerous to your child, call the Morgan County Health Department at 217-245-5111