| Although residential use of lead-based paint was | | | | • Digestive problems |
| banned in 1978, nearly one million children under the | | | | • Severe abdominal pain |
| age of six in the U.S. have lead poisoning today. | | | | • Neurological disorders |
| About 12.5 million houses constructed before the ban | | | | • Muscle and joint pain |
| contained lead-based paint. Lead exposure can poison | | | | • Damage to the reproductive system |
| adults, but children are at a much higher risk. | | | | • Cataracts |
| Lead poisoning in children | | | | Symptoms |
| Very young children have a double whammy when it | | | | The symptoms of lead poisoning can point to a host |
| comes to lead. They are more likely to get lead | | | | of problems making them very misleading. Typically |
| poisoning because they ingest their environments. | | | | symptoms do not appear until lead levels are |
| They put everything in their mouths and they touch | | | | dangerously high and damage has already been done. |
| everything around them and then put their fingers in | | | | Symptoms of lead poisoning include: |
| their mouths. Children exposed to lead suffer more | | | | • Lethargy |
| harm than adults. Lead poisoning in children can cause: | | | | • Irritability |
| • Learning disabilities | | | | • Abdominal pain |
| • Language and speech problems | | | | • Vomiting |
| • Neurological damage | | | | • Constipation |
| • Hearing damage | | | | • Loss of appetite |
| • Poor muscle coordination | | | | • Weight loss |
| • Decreased bone and muscle growth | | | | • Anemia |
| • Damage to internal organs | | | | Who is responsible for lead poisoning? |
| • Behavioral problems | | | | Narrowing down the responsible parties can be very |
| • Seizures | | | | difficult. In most cases manufacturers of lead-based |
| • Death | | | | paint are to blame, and it can be very hard to figure |
| Lead poisoning in adults | | | | out who made the paint that caused the problem. |
| Children are at a greater risk, but lead poisoning is still | | | | When products cause harm, but the harm cannot be |
| very serious for adults, and can be fatal. Lead | | | | specifically traced from the victim to a single |
| poisoning in adults can cause: | | | | manufacturer, market-share liability can be the means |
| • High blood pressure | | | | to compensation. Market-share liability holds all |
| • Fatigue | | | | manufacturers responsible for harm in direct |
| • Memory loss | | | | proportion to their share of the market for the |
| • Inability to concentrate | | | | product. |