Department of Human Services | Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning and Other Environmental Exposures

Related Links

Lead poisoning is one of the leading preventable environmental health threats to New Jersey’s children. Due to the state’s extensive industrial heritage and high proportion of pre-1978 housing, lead continues to be an important I/DD prevention issue. Despite the ban on residential use in 1978, lead continues to affect the lives of families. Our country’s aging water delivery infrastructure, in addition to the hazards of lead paint, motivate state government and its public agency partners to reduce lead’s dangerous footprint in NJ.

The immediate impact of lead can be profound, and it may also have long-term multigenerational effects. New Jersey is the most densely populated state, and its residents are at higher risk for elevated blood lead levels because of substantial amounts of lead contamination.

Keep Our Children Safe from Lead - DHS's Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) through the NJ FamilyCare program - also provides lead poisoning prevention materials. There are English/Spanish manuals for teachers, caregivers, and parents, as well as Lead Poisoning Information Packets in six languages that you can download from this DMAHS page.

Types of Toxins

Bisphenol A (BPA) – BPA is used to manufacture polycarbonate plastics. This type of plastic is used to make some types of beverage containers, compact disks, plastic dinnerware, impact-resistant safety equipment, automobile parts, and toys. BPA epoxy resins are used in the protective linings of food cans, in dental sealants, and in other products.

For more information on BPA please visit - https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/sya-bpa

Cadmium – Cadmium is a natural element in the earth’s crust. It is usually found as a mineral combined with other elements such as oxygen (cadmium oxide), chlorine (cadmium chloride), or sulfur (cadmium sulfate, cadmium sulfide). All soils and rocks, including coal and mineral fertilizers, contain some cadmium. Most cadmium used in the United States is extracted during the production of other metals like zinc, lead, and copper. Cadmium does not corrode easily and has many uses, including batteries, pigments, metal coatings, and plastics.

For more information on Cadmium please visit - https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=47&toxid=15

Mercury - Mercury is a naturally occurring metal which has several forms. The metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white, odorless liquid. If heated, it is a colorless, odorless gas. Mercury combines with other elements, such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen, to form inorganic mercury compounds or "salts," which are usually white powders or crystals. Mercury also combines with carbon to make organic mercury compounds. The most common one, methylmercury, is produced mainly by microscopic organisms in the water and soil. More mercury in the environment can increase the amounts of methylmercury that these small organisms make. Metallic mercury is used to produce chlorine gas and caustic soda, and is also used in thermometers, dental fillings, and batteries. Mercury salts are sometimes used in skin lightening creams and as antiseptic creams and ointments.

For more information on Mercury please visit - https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=113&toxid=24

Fish Consumption Advisories http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/njmainfish.htm

Cotinine – Cotinine is a product formed after the chemical nicotine enters the body. Nicotine is a chemical found in tobacco products, including cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Measuring cotinine in people's blood is the most reliable way to determine exposure to nicotine for both smokers and nonsmokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Measuring cotinine is preferred to measuring nicotine because cotinine remains in the body longer.

For more information on Cotinine please visit - https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/cotinine

Pesticides - Pesticides are a class of chemicals designed to kill pests (rodents, insects, or plants) that may affect agricultural crops or carry diseases like malaria and typhus.

For more information on different types of pesticides please visit- https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/reproductive-health/prevention/pesticides.html

Phthalates - Phthalates are a group of aromatic chemicals containing a phenyl ring with two attached and extended acetate groups. They are typically colorless liquids used to make plastics more flexible and resilient, and are often referred to as plasticizers. Because they are not a part of the chain of chemicals (polymers) that makes up plastics, they can be released fairly easily from these products. These plastics are found in products such as toothbrushes, automobile parts, tools, toys, and food packaging. Some are also used in cosmetics, insecticides, and aspirin.

For more information on Phthalates please visit - https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/substances/ToxChemicalListing.aspx?toxid=41

Results of Exposure to Toxins

Exposure to toxins can result in poor developmental outcomes or illnesses, including asthma, in an equal-opportunity fashion. However, different outcomes can be attributed to age, e.g., children’s developing systems are far more sensitive to these toxins than adults, and socioeconomic standing.

Where people live and work effects their exposure to toxins. Toxic exposure tends to be higher in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods which are near old industrial sites or full of older homes. So children in lower socioeconomic households are often at far greater risk of being exposed to these harmful substances.

More information about environmental hazards are available at the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: www.aamr.org/ and the Alliance for Healthy Homes: http://www.afhh.org/.