Virtua Health’s pediatric mobile services was using bubbles to help entertain more than a dozen kids under the age of 6 who came the Acelero Learning Kroc Center in Camden on Thursday. The children were there to be tested for lead, a highly toxic metal that can cause serious health problems.
Virtua is placing an extra focus on Camden. Testing found that 14% of the city’s children have elevated levels of lead in their blood, compared to 2.5% of children nationally. According to new research published over the summer, despite successful efforts to reduce lead exposure from sources including lead paint and water pipes, the toxic metal still can be found in some consumer products. Kate Porterfield, lead author of the study by Pure Earth, found those consumer products may be the main source of lead exposure in some cases especially those imported from other countries with more lax or even nonexistent laws around limiting lead levels.
“We suspect that a lot of these products are being hand carried through travel or through the mail,” said Porterfield. “They also might be purchased through online retailers like eBay and Etsy. And for this reason, the U.S. regulations just can’t get to those products the way they could traditionally imported ones. So, they’re slipping through the cracks.”…