How is paint contaminated with lead, mercury destroying your health?

High exposure to lead-contaminated paint, long-term mercury will lead to headaches, dizziness, asthma attacks, affecting the nervous system.

From the day of repairing the tables, chairs, iron doors and stairs, for the whole month, Ms. Thu in Linh Dam, Hanoi often feels dizzy and nauseous. Meanwhile, her daughter, Linh An, 3 years old, continued to suffer from upper respiratory disease. After examination and testing, Ms. Thu's mother and daughter were diagnosed with mild lead infection.

Ms. Thu said: " Because I want to save money, I choose non-label paint, because I think any paint is the same, as long as I change the" new clothes "for the house. Such health ".

According to doctors, many paint products, especially paints for wood, concrete, metal, door frames contain very high levels of lead and mercury , so it can be poisoned when living in the house. Painted with lead and mercury products. The most vulnerable subjects in the family are children , if inhaled by paint dust; Put your hand or pick up anything that has paint dust in your mouth. In children, lead and mercury poisoning cause more serious harm, because the child's nervous system is very sensitive.

These toxins affect the brain, nervous system and ability to absorb. Accordingly, the concentration of lead can cause children to lose intelligence, develop slowly physically, have behavioral abnormalities and damage hearing. At high concentrations, children may have coma, seizures and death.

Mercury enters the body through the respiratory tract and skin. This substance causes burning sensation to the skin and eyes when exposed. If inhaled mercury vapor easily leads to coughs, chest pain, burning sensation in the lungs and difficulty breathing. Regular exposure to mercury will put you at risk. Symptoms often indicate tremors in the limbs, memory loss, loss of concentration, blurred vision and impaired kidney function.

High exposure to lead-based paint can also lead to lead poisoning.

In addition, exposure to lead paint can lead to lead poisoning. Signs of lead poisoning often appear silently, only when the accumulation is large, the disease is new, but symptoms are difficult to detect. In children, acute lead poisoning causes patients to become irritable, poorly concentrated, vomiting, unsteady gait, and seizures.

In chronic cases, children show signs of mental retardation, wood induced, regular menstruation, abdominal pain, anemia, muscle weakness, kidney failure, and sometimes death. Some children can get lead right from their mother's womb or breastfed with high lead content. Adults with lead poisoning often experience numbness in the toes and hands; weak muscle fatigue; headache, abdominal pain, hypertension, anemia, memory loss, mood changes, miscarriage, poor sperm . Long time, the disease will be hard to cure.

Inhalation of volatile organic substances in poor quality paints can also irritate the eyes, nose, and throat for asthma and sinus progress. The reason is that most of the solvent that is inhaled into the lungs enters the bloodstream and can cause headaches and vomiting. In addition, if you regularly breathe many of these substances, the respiratory defense system is overloaded, causing damage to the upper respiratory tract. If the lesions are prolonged, the mucosa will thicken and the nostrils in the lower floor become narrower, the nasal secretions are also more secreted, which hinders breathing function.

Currently, the market still has many types of paint containing lead and mercury, most of which are not branded. Ms. Van Minh Hoa, Secretary General of Ho Chi Minh City Association for Protection of Natural Resources and Environment said: "Many families often save costs when repairing their houses, furniture or using cheap paints. Quality assurance These paints often contain lead, mercury in color mixing techniques, which are harmful to humans . According to Ms. Hoa, the selection of high quality and safe paint is very important, besides the product element must be durable - beautiful - good price to ensure health for all family members.

To limit the risk of lead poisoning, mercury, family members should wash their hands before eating and going to sleep , especially with children playing on the ground; Regularly clean the floor, tables and chairs with wet towels. Do not let children play near traffic roads and bridges. Eat adequate nutrients, plenty of iron and calcium to minimize the absorption of lead from the stomach into the blood. If there are lead pipes in the house, let the water flow freely 30-60 seconds before using to remove lead. If water is taken from the tube, cold water should be collected because hot water absorbs more lead.

In addition, parents do not place a thermometer on the table, shelves in sight, reach of children, avoid children swallowing mercury. In addition, buying household items such as crystal items, ceramics or baby toys, parents need to find a clear source to ensure that they do not contain two toxic substances during the production process. In particular, parents should use lead-free paint and mercury to have a safe living environment for children.