ADHD linked to prenatal smoking and low exposure to lead. Parents be warned.

One-Third of ADHD cases in U.S. are linked to lead and prenatal smoking.

This article is a follow-up to my article published earlier in health mad which can be viewed at ADHD for Nurses and Parents

Tag words: ADHD, cigarette, smoking, lead, exposure, vulnerable period, corporate attorneys, structured settlement, legal, petroleum industry

The above is a story published by Lindsay Tanner in Yahoo news. The research states that one third of ADHD cases in the U.S. may be linked to exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy followed by lead exposure to low levels of lead.

Picture 1. ADHD is a major problem for families.

The study states that even low levels of lead produce ADHD in children. The levels of lead which produce ADHD were not stated in the report, but the wording clearly suggested that the lead level which is considered “safe” by government is not really safe for the growing child’s brain.

This research is a continuation of previous research linking ADHD with children who were exposed to cigarette smoke during pregnancy followed by exposure to lead during early childhood. It offers the first clear link on how much those environmental factors might contribute to child development and associated pathologies.

Dr. Leo Trasande of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine called this a landmark paper because it quantifies the number of cases of ADHD that are attributable to exposure to cigarettes and lead.

More important is the fact that this study clearly demonstrated that even low levels of lead exposure create behavioral problems. Is this going to put pressure on the government to lower the acceptable levels of lead in products? I would hope so. But I do not think the government will do it. Most governments, in this economic climate are working with big corporations. Cigarette, Petroleum, alcohol and communications companies are the major beneficiaries of governments’ faulty planning, globally.

This study’s findings are consistent with the finding of the National Academy of Sciences. That finding had stated that 3% of all developmental and neurological disorders in the U.S. were the result of exposure to toxic chemicals and other environmental factors and that 25% were the result of a combination – Genetic and environmental.

More Statistics: Children whose mothers smoked while pregnant were 2.5 times more likely to develop ADHD than those children whose parents did not smoke.

Children with lead levels of more than two micrograms per deciliter were more likely to have ADHD than children with levels of below 0.8microgram per liter. The governments “acceptable “ level is 10 micrograms per deciliter. It is estimated that 310,000 U.S. Children ages one to five have levels exceeding this amount.

The study found that exposure to smoke after the child was born did not contribute to increase ADHD. However, exposure to low levels of lead did contribute to the development of ADHD.

Dr. Robert Geller, a pediatric toxicologist at Emory University said that there were different periods of vulnerability to different toxins and it was perfectly plausible.

So, if you are pregnant and want a healthy child, here is another reason to give up smoking.

Picture 2: Ingesting lead in Urban Crawl. What Price do our children pay?

In nature lead occurs in small quantities in the air, water and soil. Humans inhale lead particles or ingest lead from the food and water they consume. It is known that lead can enter the body in a number of ways, but people living in urban environments ingest lead by inhaling the airborne particles. Lead can be found in all tissues of the body and usually accumulate in the bones. It is also found in the brain, circulating blood and liver. Ingested lead is only very slowly eliminated by the liver and kidneys.

Many studies have shown that lead has a detrimental effect on the central nervous system particularly in young children. It has been shown to impair neurological and intellectual development in children. New studies are connecting lead exposure to ADHD. Higher concentrations of lead also cause kidney diseases and anemia.