An Ongoing Lack of Knowledge About Lead Poisoning
| Autor: | Jennifer Mall, Martha Berger, Jennifer Lowry, Nicholas Newman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | American Journal of Public Health. 103:e9-e10 |
| ISSN: | 1541-0048 0090-0036 |
| DOI: | 10.2105/ajph.2013.301499 |
| Popis: | Lead poisoning is a serious health problem facing children in the United States. For that reason, the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) network was particularly interested in the recent article by Zhang et al. detailing early lead exposure and poorer educational achievement among school children in Detroit, Michigan.1 The PEHSU is a network of specialists (pediatrics, family medicine, occupational medicine, and medical toxicology) throughout North America who respond to questions from health professionals, policymakers, and the public concerning pediatric environmental health. The PEHSU network responds to inquiries about a diverse array of environmental exposures; however, the most frequent substance of concern is lead. Zhang et al. suggested that, “[t]he control of lead poisoning should focus on primary prevention of lead exposure in children and development of special education programs for students with lead poisoning.” The PEHSU strives to prevent environmentally related health threats by going beyond traditional primary preventative measures to include environmental health education for health care providers.2 Medical students endorse the need for an environmental history, but few ask for an environmental history during a clinical encounter.3 Pediatricians report low self-efficacy regarding environmental history taking, discussing environmental exposures with parents, and finding diagnostic and treatment resources related to environmental exposures.4,5 The PEHSU program’s mission is to provide educational and consultative services to bridge this environmental health knowledge gap.2 The PEHSU database substantiates an ongoing lack of knowledge about lead poisoning. From 2007 to 2012, lead was the primary environmental concern in 36% of the 7512 contacts received by the network. Half of the lead inquires were from health care professionals, and 72% were regarding children aged one to five years. This suggests that clinicians lack comfort identifying and treating lead poisoning. Recently, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 535 000 US children aged one to five years had blood lead levels greater than or equal to five micrograms per deciliter; thus, the impact of this lack of clinician knowledge is significant.6 The environmental contribution to disease in US children was $76.6 billion in 2008.7 The PEHSU program provides a credible, academic, noncommercial source of health information and clinical expertise regarding pediatric environmental health and operates with funding from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the US Environmental Protection Agency at $1.8 million annually. Delayed or missed identification of children with elevated lead levels is critically important in light of its impact on school achievement and adult health.1,8 The PEHSU network has created its “Recommendations on Medical Management of Childhood Lead Exposure and Poisoning,” which are available at http://aoec.org/PEHSU/documents/medical-mgmnt-childhood-lead-exposure-April2013.pdf. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|