Background:Lead is a toxic substance that can be found in many places. It is important to know what could contain lead so that children will not get lead poisoning.Safety at home website says that lead poisoning in children remains a big environmental concern in the U.S. According to the EPA, children can be exposed to lead before they are born. Also, children that may seem very healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies. It is important that people are aware of the health effects of lead, where lead is found and how to prevent lead poisoning. Most people think only of the paint in homes as containing lead, but this is not the case. There have been many other products that contained lead based paint out in stores. The CDC says that lead-based paint and lead contaminated dust are the main sources of lead exposure for U.S. children. Instructions:
Find three recalled item (preferably in the past year).
Tell me the name of the product and how long it was out before it was recalled.
Then go to the EPA website page on lead, click on the "What you can do to protect your family" link and list three ways you can prevent lead poisoning in your home.
Watch the short video below on lead Poisoning and give a short reflection on what you have learned or what surprised you overall from this whole activity.
I hope this activity is not too tedious! Good luck!
While I was working I noticed that we had the same chips that we had for a snack on Monday. The brand is called Sensible Portions. The snacks are in healthy portions and according to the website, still taste great! I thought the straw snacks we had were really good. Their products are all natural and gluten free. If you want to see more of their products, check out their website!
My SMART goal: I will shower for 5 minutes everyday for the next 5 weeks. This week I did pretty well in achieving my SMART goal. The week was about half; with me achieving it 4 times.
Successes and Challenges: I was successful for half the week. I used my phone to set an alarm so I would turn off the shower at the right time. When I needed to shave I turned the water off. It was still really challenging to shower in 5 minutes. I did go over that a couple of times but overall I did better than last week.
What Feelings did you experience? I felt pretty good the whole week. Even though I didn't always make my time I still was always under ten minutes at least so it felt good to save water.
What did you learn this week? I learned that the more you practice a behavior the easier it is to change that behavior into a habit.
What are your plans for next week? This project is done this week but I will continue with my SMART goal.
Review of entire process:
My SMART goal was: I will shower for 7 minutes everyday for the next 5 weeks. I changed my SMART goal once from 7 minutes to 5 minutes.
The things that helped me to be successful were using an alarm to time myself in the shower so I knew when I had to get out. Also, just knowing I had a goal to keep made me shower faster. It was challenging at first to shower for only 7 minutes but once I got used to it, it just became habit. It's still hard for me to shower for 5 minutes. When I needed to shave I just turned off the water so I wouldn't go over my time limit.
From this project I learned how easy it is to change a behavior if you really try to change it. I learned that I used to take showers that were way too long and I save gallons of water just by showering for a shorter amount of time. Behavior changes have to be worked on; they aren't something that is going to happen overnight. For a behavior to change, you have to keep trying to change the behavior until it becomes a habit.
The environment benefited from my project because I saved tons of water from being wasted. By conserving water I helped to reduce water pollution. I also saved energy that is used to heat the water.
I will continue this behavior because it has become natural now for me to shower for only a little while. However, I will probably shower 7 minutes and not 5 minutes. I think it's important that I keep conserving water by lessening my shower time.
For anyone making a lifestyle change, I recommend that they pick something that they really want to change or something they really care about. It's so much easier to make a lifestyle change if you really want to. I would also recommend to keep trying if it doesn't work at first because it's very likely that the change will not happen right away. Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain
December 6, 2010 Sen. Barb Goodwin U.S. Senate 650 Sullivan LN NE Columbia Heights, MN 55421
VOTE YES ON S.RES.650.ATS: National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
The proposed national prevention week will help educate the public on lead poisoning in children and teach people about prevention. By designating one week to prevention of lead poisoning, this bill ensures that the public will be aware of this issue and take action against it. As a current Health Education student from Minnesota, I believe that there should be a week each year designated to childhood lead poisoning. This will keep the public aware of the issue so that steps can be taken to eliminate blood poisoning levels in children.
The prevention week will help educate the public on the dangers of lead poisoning in children. According to the CDC, lead poisoning affects nearly every system in the body. There are often no symptoms for blood poisoning, thus it can go unnoticed. Children under the age of 6 are at the most risk because they put their hands and objects in their mouths more. Also, children at and below the poverty line are also at more of a risk. It would be ideal to completely eliminate blood poisoning as a health issue, but until that comes about a program for prevention once a year is needed to help increase awareness.
Opponents might say that levels have decreased significantly in the past and that there is no more need for blood lead prevention. However, there are still cases of childhood lead poisoning. There have also been many toys and other objects recalled because of lead. Although companies in the U.S. may not used lead based paint, toys and other objects imported from other countries may contain lead based paint. The problem is still there and must continue to be addressed until it is eliminated.
We appreciate the past support of the bill and hope it continues to get passed each year. As a health education student, I hope you realize the importance of educating the public on blood poisoning in children. Vote yes to S.RES.650.ATS: National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
Alyssa
Fact Sheet
How do children get lead poisoning? Older homes can contain lead-based paint. Painted toys may contain lead as well as some drinking containers. Children who put toys, containers are suck on the windowsill in an older house may get exposed to lead. If they eat paint chips or soil containing lead they may also get exposed.
What are the symptoms of lead poisoning? Sometimes there are no symptoms. When there are symptoms, they are like other illnesses. Loss of appetite, tiredness, irritability, weight loss, and reduced attention span.
What are the affects of lead poisoning? If not detected early, children with high blood levels may have damage to their brain or nervous system, slowed growth, hyperactivity, behavior problems, headaches, and learning problems.
How can you prevent lead poisoning?
Learn about where lead is found
Keep the home dust-free
Wash children's toys frequently
If you have an older home get it tested for lead
Make sure there is no cracked or chipping paint
Have your kids wash their hands after playing outdoors
More information: For more information you can go to the CDC website or EPA's website.
