The Silent Epidemic – Part Two

Most often the way people get acute lead poisoning these days is through exposure to old paint in dwellings. The stereotype is of a poor child eating a paint chip in a dilapidated home. But plenty of cases come from lead dust particles too small to notice. While children living in low-income homes run a greater risk of poisoning this way, thousands who live in more affluent homes are also at risk, especially during or just after major renovation. In part two of our series, Deirdre Kennedy reports on one young family who learned about lead poisoning the hard way.