Warnings unheeded: a history of child lead poisoning.
Abstract
Child lead poisoning has been a major public health issue only for the last 20-25 years. However, awareness that lead-based paint is a source of lead poisoning in children dates back to the first few years of the twentieth century. Articles in medical journals and textbooks appeared in the United States and elsewhere, recounting cases of children poisoned by the lead paint in their homes on woodwork, baby cribs, and other furniture. The number of positively diagnosed cases was limited both by the imprecision of diagnostic tools and physicians' lack of familiarity with the signs and symptoms of plumbism in children. Nevertheless, a number of hospitals and at least one large city health department recorded numerous cases of child lead poisoning in the 1920s and 1930s. The mounting evidence in those years made it clear that child lead poisoning was a serious public health hazard. And the activities and statements of the lead industry's representatives left little doubt that they were aware of the dangers of lead paint. Nevertheless, the lead paint companies continued to manufacture and sell their product well past 1940.
Full text
Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (2.0M), or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References.
Images in this article
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Lin-Fu JS. Children and lead--new findings and concerns. N Engl J Med. 1982 Sep 2;307(10):615–617. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibson JL. OCULAR PLUMBISM IN CHILDREN. Br J Ophthalmol. 1931 Nov;15(11):637–642. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mitchell HS. LEAD POISONING IN CHILDREN. Can Med Assoc J. 1932 May;26(5):546–549. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Netzley RE. Lead Encephalitis: Precipitated by Acute Infection. Cal West Med. 1937 May;46(5):306–308. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kaplan E, McDonald JM. Blood Lead Determinations as a Health Department Laboratory Service. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1942 May;32(5):481–486. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Needleman HL. The persistent threat of lead: a singular opportunity. Am J Public Health. 1989 May;79(5):643–645. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]