Blood work at 12 mos visit - lead levels

coasterqueen wrote: We got our results back from her bloodwork from her 12 month visit. Everything is ok, blood count good, lead level under 3. This may be a stupid question but what are the "levels" of lead. Like is it 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst? They said hers was normal. But I guess I don't know "where" she stands on the "lead level" charts. KWIM?

I just would like to know where she is on the "lead level chart" per se.

TIA for any help!

~CrazieMama~ replied: Here is a website on the levels. I hope this helps.

http://lead-info.com/levelschart.html

MomofTay&Sam replied: I had asked about this before, I was informed to get blood work done at 12 months also...

coasterqueen replied: Oops, didn't realize this was asked before That website was very helpful. Thanks!

MommyToAshley replied: I guess this is different than the hemoglobin test Ashley had done to test for anemia? I don't think she had this lead test done, is there a specific reason they test for lead or should it be standard?

MomofTay&Sam replied: No no no boogabearzmom I didnt mean it like that sorry. I just mentioned before that I was asked to get one and some people said they were not asked at their 12 month appts for any type of blood work. Sorry I sounded so confusing.

~CrazieMama~ replied: I believe the test is done mainly for the babies who are in high risk areas. Some places just have more kids with higher lead levels. I also heard about this on t.v.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: I've never heard of any of my children being tested for Lead or Anemia. I think I should ask more questions. But then again none of my children have ever had to get blood work done!

coasterqueen replied:
Oh no problem! Really! I just guess I missed the post on that

coasterqueen replied:
Kylie had both tests done, the lead test and iron/blood count test. I had thought the lead test was pretty standard everywhere. I don't believe we are in an *area* that has possible higher lead levels. She had lower than a 3 which is good. Anything under a 10 is safe.

IMO, I would think PEDS would test for that to be sure babies don't have it because not all parents give their babies nursery water or bottled water. So if a person's water had higher amounts of lead than they had thought it could pose a hazard to the baby. If the blood test was not taken then it would put the baby at more risk.

I'm all new to this stuff too, so that is just a guess. IMO, I would definately check with your ped to be safe.

paradisemommy replied: we had surveys that we had to fill out at almost every appt. that we had (3 mos/6 mos/9 mos/12 mos) - the same surveys asking if we or the baby was exposed to any house built before a certain time, etc. and then at the 12 mos. appt we had both the test done too - i thought it was standard practice..

supermom replied: None of my children have ever been tested for lead. We live not to far from an area that does have a lot of "chat" and therefore high levels of lead, but it's about an half-hour drive from here. It isn't standard practice, I am sure. In fact, none of my kids have ever had any blood work done at all other than the bilirubin tests they did on Anders his first few days of life. Hmmmmm...wonder if they don't mention it because they know we don't have insurance, and since all the kids are healthy?

coasterqueen replied:
I would think they would have at least checked for iron levels in your wee ones. I always thought they checked for iron levels to make sure babies were getting enough iron in their diet, etc.

I don't know. I have talked with several mommy's in our city and they've all told me that their wee ones had blood work done at 12 months and on a breastfeeding board I frequent mother are always talking about blood work done on the 12 month visit.

Also, afater speaking with DH's cousin this weekend regarding lead, etc he explained a little more in depth about lead and how it is normal in our water, but that in some areas if not watched well, it could be too high, etc. Lead gets in ground water and it doesn't matter if you live in an area of concern, IMO if should still be watched. He works for the Illinois EPA. He told me that it was just about 10 yrs ago or less that they banned the use of lead sodder (sp?). So a lot of people used lead sodder to sodder their pipes, etc in their homes. I know my parents did. No one knew about the hazards of it. So instead of redoing all of the pipes in their home they drink bottled water and cook everything with bottled water. Everyone's water already has a certain amount, while very small, of lead in it.

Some people don't even know that their pipes were soddered with lead, etc. So it would be a concern for me, at least.

Just my thoughts, though. It is standard practice in our state, from everything I have looked into, to have bloodwork done at around the 12 month mark for lead, anemia, and iron levels. My DD is a huge chunk, lol, VERY HEALTHY and our PED still did it.

I wonder if it is just not standard practice for your PED or in your area?

MommyToAshley replied: Thanks for the info, I will check into it.