Slow build up of lead causing poisoning?

[mm22bys]

Hi,

this is a bit remote, but I am wondering if anybody out there has any exerience of a lo having lead poisoning? I am specifically thinking of a slow buildup, maybe caused by lead seeping through lead pipes.

DS has developmental problems and some of his symptoms tie in with lead poisoning. We are struggling to come to grips with this, and our latest "theory" as to what has caused his problems may be way out there, but I am just wondering if anybody has had any similar experiences (I am in East London).

I don't know much about it, but I am sure I have read of a case of lead poisoning from lead paint in a council owned property some years ago. I can't remember the details though.

Our house is about 70 years old, and before we moved in we had to do a lot of renovations, including replacing lead pipes. We are not convinced that ALL the lead was removed.

We are going to get blood tests done on DS2, and also have contacted Thames Water to come do a test (although they say there have been no "failures" in our area).

God, mm22bys, I really hope not. That sounds scary. Although at least it would be a diagnosis for your ds2 if that was the case.

Your ds1 doesn't have any symptoms though does he? Although I suppose you probably hadn't been living there very long when you were pg with him.

(Are you coming out tonight btw? I might be a little late, dh is having a strop because he has something to go to too and I'm making him sort out the childcare himself.)

Just a thought, are you going to get your topsoil tested too? There were quite a few heavy industrial factories around before everything was redeveloped. The new development sites have all been decontaminated, but who knows what's in soil in the pre-existing housing stock. Everytime anything got demolished it would have put loads of dust and nasty stuff into the air which would have settled all over the place.

Hi Bran,

We don't know what has caused / is causing DS2s problems, but we do know that he does do better when he is a different environment (but then so did DS1).

I don't think DS1 has been effected, but when I was pregnant with him, and for the first three months of his life, we were in a modern development. Also I have spent alot of time here, so maybe I passed some on to DS2 when I was pregnant and when I was bf him.

I would have thought that any "newer" property would not have this problem (if it even exists).

The neurologist thinks it's unlikely that it is lead poisoning, but he has said that we can either do a lead test when we want, or when we go back to see him in November.

It may come to nothing (and I would have thought that if it was a problem then other people round here would also be similarly effected), if it does, it's just something we can cross off the list but probably best not to ignore it!

(Yes I am going tonight, hope to see you)

Hi again, I was just talking to DH now as I was typing last response, and I did say exactly that to him - we know it is contaminated land, just not how contaminated, and with what.

But then again, DS1 spends as much time out there as any of the rest of us do, and I don't think he's got an issue.

I'll talk to DH again about what testing we can do out the back...

How much renovation did you do to the property that involved sanding of the woodwork - paint dust gets everywhere and if it was lead paint......

Lead leaching into drinking water is only a problem in UK if
A) the water is drunk from the hot tap;
B) the water is very soft (big problem in places like Glasgow). Any contamination is most likely to come from other sources than the drinking water if you're in East London.

You can get a blood test done on your child, this is the only definitive way to see if they have been poisoned.

This might be of interest:
This is a Passage of a Book called :The Choice, the author is Bernadette Bohan

(The section generally is concerned with Drinking water/tap water and what is added to it over here in the UK)

"Aluminium is used to clarify the water. It also potentiates the effects of heavy metals like mercury, lead and cadmium - which are all present in our drinking water. The links of aluminium's toxic effects with Alzheimers' are well known."