Main description:

This groundbreaking study reveals the continuing danger that lead contamination presents to health - particularly in the earliest stages of life. Disclosure about the lead content in house paint, gasoline, canned food, and tap water revolutionised the manufacturing of those products a generation ago, but lead-based products are still produced and pose a health hazard as lead remains in the environment years after its initial use. The deleterious effects of lead on early cognitive development are well documented, but the data in this reference regarding in utero lead transfer contains critical new information that shows the effects on infants and families. Week-by-week brain development in unborn and new-born children is demonstrated, explaining lead's damage potential at each stage and how that household sources and surroundings - including soil, plumbing, imported canned goods, and house dust - are outlined and simple precautions that can reduce or minimise exposure are discussed. With an awareness that has allowed a generation of injured children to be born, this title empowers the reader to break this destructive cycle.