Designed for parents, this primer presents information on threats to children's health that can be found in every American home, including disinfectants, art supplies, pesticides, and toxins in food and drinking water. The primer also provides practical information on safe and environmentally friendly household cleaners and disinfectants, outlines…

The Seattle School District began a program in 1990 to identify lead levels in the district's drinking water and to implement measures to lower any high lead levels. Recounts each of the seven steps of the program, discusses what the district found, and explains how it lowered lead levels in the drinking water. (MLF)

Reviews the literature on "safe" levels of lead in children and their association with developmental disabilities. It concludes that lead pollution in Australia, especially the Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales, continues to be a problem, that the current standard "safe" level should be reexamined, and that a…

Discusses preparing an educational facility to address the threat of biological or chemical terrorism, including understanding the potential impact, implementing information and communication systems, and improving medical surveillance and awareness. (EV)

Both nationally and within the State of California, it is unlikely that those children most susceptible to lead exposure are adequately screened for blood lead levels. New and creative approaches are necessary to reach these individuals. In-home phlebotomy was employed to test blood lead levels of 128 San Diego households containing Latino…

There are no official data on suicide from Pakistan, a conservative South Asian Islamic country with traditionally low suicide rates. Both suicide and attempted suicide are illegal acts, as well as socially and religiously condemned, making research in this area difficult. Recent reports suggest an increase in suicide rates. In this study, police…

Next to chemical and farm workers, today's children are at the greatest risk from toxic chemicals. Through their normal play activities, children are exposed to a frightening array of toxic hazards, including lead, pesticides, arsenic, and unknown dangers from abandoned landfills and warehouses. Through a series of documented examples, the author…

Reports on recent findings which suggest that lead poisoning stems not only from paint ingestion, is not limited to ghetto children, and may be linked to some learning and behavioral difficulties in children. (Author/SF)

This report succinctly discusses the steps necessary to diagnose and treat poisoning from pesticides, especially organophosphates, carbamates and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Immediate and continuing steps in the care of poisoning victims are outlined with supportive information on where to locate emergency assistance. (CS)

The facilities and operations of the school lunch program in the public schools of Hawaii are reviewed. Several types of school lunch programs are described including--(1) traditional school lunch programs, (2) kitchen and classroom dining, (3) central and decentralized dining, (4) home school-feeder school system, (5) central kitchen, and (6) the…

Based on a paper given at a meeting of the Mental Deficiency Section of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in June, 1977, the article discusses the effects of lead exposure on the behavior and intellectual development of young children. (Author)

In the study it is shown that within a group of 84 hyperactive children (4 to 11 years old) those for whom an organic etiology is present have lead burdens lower than in those for whom no apparent cause could be found. (Author/SBH)

Opposing views regarding the connection between lead exposure and cognitive impairment are presented. C. B. Ernhart states that no study has yet proved that low-level lead exposure is detrimental to child development, while H. L. Needleman asserts that previous research studies have proven conclusively that such a connection exists. (CB)