PROTECT Researchers Address Lead and Public Health with Educational Materials and Collaborations
Lead exposure has been a major public health issue for decades. Lead is a naturally occurring element that can frequently be found at Superfund sites and is known to cause several adverse human health effects. In children, lead exposure can damage the brain and nervous system and cause learning and behavioral problems, slowed growth, and hearing issues. In adults, exposure has been linked to reproductive problems, high blood pressure, and nerve disorders. It is essential that people are aware of lead’s health effects and prevention strategies, and the PROTECT team is contributing to this understanding through multiple avenues.
Members of the PROTECT team have worked on lead exposure education over the past several years. In 2022, PROTECT collaborated with the Puerto Rico Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics on an informational video about lead. In the video, narration from PROTECT pediatrician Dr. Gredia Huerta-Montañez describes the human health effects of lead on children as well as pregnant people, explaining that lead can pass from a mother to her baby through the placenta and increase the risk of adverse birth effects like premature birth, miscarriage, and low birth weight. The video also illustrates common sources of lead exposure, like powdered lead-based paint in the home and air and soil pollution, which can especially be a problem for those who live near highways and busy roads. Dr. Huerta-Montañez then talks through simple steps to take to reduce lead exposure, like blood lead tests during child wellness visits, checking with local health agencies about household paint and dust testing, taking off shoes before entering the home, eating foods high in vitamin C, iron, and calcium, and frequently cleaning the home.
Dr. Huerta-Montañez
This informative video has been successful in educating people on the dangers of lead exposure as well as personal steps that can be taken to prevent potential exposure. As a result, it has been used by other agencies and organizations to give Puerto Rico residents an overview of lead as it relates to public health. The video is currently published on the Puerto Rico Department of Health website on their page regarding lead, which is the central place residents turn to for information about lead, the element’s adverse health effects, common sources of exposure, and prevention strategies.
More recently, Dr. Huerta-Montañez included this informational video in the lead prevention education protocol she developed for the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) in Puerto Rico. The video now plays in the waiting areas of WIC program centers across Puerto Rico. As part of her protocol development, Dr. Huerta-Montañez also led an in-person training for the WIC nutrition specialists about how they can better educate mothers during their visits on how to prevent lead poisoning. The impacts of this new protocol are already apparent as referrals and consultations from WIC to the Puerto Rico Department of Health lead prevention surveillance program have increased. With greater education and access to resources, residents are more empowered to take steps to diminish lead exposure and improve the health of themselves and their families.
For more information about lead, visit the Puerto Rico Department of Health website.