Background

Happy Town, USA is advertised as a picture-perfect quaint town to move with all the best to offer such as affordable housing, great schools, restaurants, and community driven activities. Behind the mask of the idealistic town, however, there is risk of exposure to a silent but deadly predator. That predator being lead exposure.

Key study question(s)

What are the affects of lead exposure?

What are avenues that lead exposure takes place through?

What cultural considerations are there?

Findings

The population living in Happy Town, USA are at risk for lead exposure from multiple sources that are in need of addressing for the health and safety of the community.

Recommendations

The three target audiences for this community would be parents, renovators, and restaurant owners. With children being such a large target audience regarding exposure risk parents will be top priority to communicate with. Educational presentations and information given at local pediatrician offices as well as school meetings will be a prominent location to hold these sessions as most individuals will have children. Parents need to be educated on the long term affects this can have as the lead levels will build in their body and can stay stored for extended periods of time.

Renovators will be targeted as an audience of concern and new protocols will need to be put in place requiring them to contract official lead-safe certified individuals to properly investigate the house as well as inspectors to confirm that traces of lead are not found.

Lastly, restaurant owners need to be educated on the possibility and dangers of lead contamination in foods and how to properly prevent this from happening as they feed members of the community. Ultimately through transparency and planning education can and will be provided to protect the health and safety of those in Happy Town so that it can live up to the potential it deserves.

Public Health Significance

“The health effects of exposure are more harmful to children less than six years of age because their bodies are still developing and growing rapidly. Young children also tend to put their hands or other objects, which may be contaminated with lead dust, into their mouths, so they are more likely to be exposed to lead than older children.”

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/health-effects.htm

• Lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children.
• Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time. Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood.
• Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing fetus.
• There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
• Lead exposure is preventable.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health#:~:text=At%20high%20levels%20of%20exposure,intellectual%20disability%20and%20behavioural%20disorders.