People replace their windows for many reasons. Some are interested in improving their curb appeal while others are “going green” by implementing every manner of energy-efficient technology available in the modern home.
Few people, however, realize that lead poisoning is all too common in America amongst children in the home, and the “Lead Wars” have not been won yet.
The Lead Industry Lied and Nobody Stopped It
In the 1950s a door-to-door survey was conducted of slum children in Baltimore. The results were astonishing. This survey found that, on average, these children displayed lead levels that were 6 times higher than those of workers employed in the lead industry itself.
Before we understood the dangers of lead, it was used in water pipes, gasoline, paint, and many other products in the United States. Now banned from production since 1978, it continues to remain on the walls and windows of American homes.
Lead is a silent killer, and most Americans feel safe in their homes which are supposedly lead-free.
Lead Exposure in Children
The catastrophic effects of lead have been known for years but played down.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 22 children in the United States alone have high levels of lead in their blood. The reality is that even low levels of exposure can permanently damage a child’s brain. The CDC also warns that roughly 4 million households have children living in them that are being exposed to high levels of lead.
Lead poisoning has been shown to cause fatigue, abdominal pain, irritability, and memory loss and it has inextricably been linked to low IQ and even permanent brain damage. In fact, according to studies over the last few years have found that the inmates with the highest lead-level exposure in childhood, were among those who committed the most heinous crimes.
According to LEAD WARS: THE POLITICAL SCIENCE AND THE FATE OF AMERICA’S CHILDREN by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner, “… America’s failure to address the lead paint problem early on may well have cost the American population, on average, five IQ points—enough to double the number of retarded children and halve the number of gifted children in the country.”
Lead is harmful to anyone, but the small bodies of children make even low dosages deadly, and the effects cannot be corrected!
LEAD DUST – #1 CAUSE OF LEAD POISONING
If your home has not been renovated on a necessary basis, it can still be a place full of hazards, including the possibility of lead poisoning. Because lead does not break down naturally, it can remain a problem until it is removed. Perhaps the walls of your home have been redone and no lead remains but deteriorated windows and lead-paint-trimmed windows still pose a serious danger, with plumes of lead dust every time they are opened.
The only thing for it is replacement windows, and it is a crucial step in the elimination of lead dust in contaminated properties. The disturbance of lead paint during home improvement poses a serious threat to the health of both children and adults.
Unfortunately, most homeowners who undertake such projects are unaware that tiny lead particles can be released when they break painted surfaces. Most particles are too small to see with the naked eye, and this is cause for major concern.
Eliminate the Silent Pandemic With Replacement Windows
Millions of children are still at risk today, but new replacement windows will eliminate the risk of exposure from the window casing. A letter to The New England Journal of Medicine in 1984 insisted that “more permanent changes,…such as replacement of a deteriorated window casement, maybe a more effective long-term solution” for preventing lead exposure in the home.
Several studies also confirmed that window replacement was crucial for the reduction of lead dust in contaminated houses.
It would seem that there has never been a more crucial time to invest in new replacement windows.