Information For Parents

Lead poisoning is when a person’s health or body functions are negatively affected by lead contamination in what they eat, drink, touch, or breathe.

There are many factors that affect how different people’s bodies handle exposure to lead. These factors include a person’s age, nutritional status, and genetic makeup, as well as the source of lead and length of their exposure.

No safe blood lead level has been identified. Children are especially at risk from lead because of their small size and developing brains.

Lead exposure can affect nearly every system in the body. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect a child’s IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement.

A blood lead test is the most common way to find out if your child has been exposed to lead and has a detectable blood lead level. Most children with detectable levels of lead in their blood have no obvious symptoms.

If you think your child may have been exposed to lead, talk to your child’s health care provider about getting a blood lead test. Your health care provider and most local health departments can test for lead in your child’s blood.

Many private insurance policies cover the cost of testing for blood lead. Children covered by Medicaid are eligible for free testing. Contact the New Mexico Department of Health for more details.

There is no cure for lead poisoning. That is why preventing exposure to lead, especially among children, is important. Finding and removing sources of lead from the child’s environment is needed to prevent further exposure.

While there is no cure, parents can help reduce the effects of lead by talking to their doctor and getting connected to learning, nutritional, and behavioral programs as soon as possible.

Contact your school’s administrator to learn more about their involvement in testing and reducing lead in drinking water.

If you child’s school is also a public water supply, it is required to follow the Safe Drinking Water Act and could be already required to sample for lead in drinking water under the federal Lead and Copper Rule. You may request the system’s test results by contacting the public water supply.

Schools and child care facilities do not have any federal regulations mandating testing of drinking water in schools with the exception of those serving as public water supplies. This is why NMED has developed their own monitoring assistance program.