Comprehensive Report: Climate Change, Lead Exposure, and Public Health

This report explores the significant health risks associated with climate change, with a specific focus on lead exposure. It highlights lead as a naturally occurring metal found in various sources like batteries and pipes, and its detrimental effects on human health, particularly in children due to their developing bodies and habits. The report discusses the national scope of lead pollution, the diseases it causes (including mental retardation, increased blood pressure, and anemia), and the variable concentrations of lead in blood. It reviews existing policies and laws aimed at mitigating lead exposure, such as the Toxic Control Act and lead abatement programs. Furthermore, it suggests improvements to these policies, involving stakeholders from local community centers to the government, and changes in the healthcare system to better address lead exposure in patients. The report concludes that effective collaboration between community centers and the government is crucial for spreading awareness and implementing policies to reduce the health risks associated with lead contamination.

Running Head: EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

2EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
Introduction
The American Public Health Association highlights certain issues that are linked with
the effects of the climate change. The health issue that will be discussed in the essay is the
exposure of lead and its consequent health issues (Apha.org, 2019). The lead exposure is an
increasing health hazard that is affecting a large section of the people. Lead is the naturally
occurring metal that is found in batteries and the pipes. It affects human health as it can cause
contamination in air that can cause dust allergies as well as other respiratory problems. Lead
can harm human beings by contaminating the water and the eating products. Lead pollution
can also be spread by the exposure of paints in homes that contain lead. The exposure to lead
is very harmful specifically to the children as their bodies are not completely developed and
they also do not have proper immune system. There are certain habits in children like putting
objects and unwashed hands in mouth that put the children at high risk of lead exposure
(Korfmacher & Hanley, 2013).
Discussion
This policy brief focuses on the children and even discusses about the after effects of
the exposure. The exposure is affected at the national level as the lead pollution is not
restricted to a certain region or locality as lead contaminates the water as well as the fruits
and vegetables. Thus, there are a large number of people that are affected by the disease. The
exposure to the lead causes a number of diseases among the children including mild mental
retardation that results from the loss of IQ, increased blood pressure, anemia, and
gastrointestinal effects (US EPA, 2019). There are several other diseases that are associated
with the exposure of lead. Research has shown that there is a variable concentrations of lead
in the blood. It has been measured that the concentration of lead in the pre-industrial area is
about 0.016μg/dl that indicates that the human exposure to lead is minimum. However, there

3EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
are evidences that support the fact that the minimum concentration of 0-1μg/dl can cause the
death of the individual (Hauptman, Bruccoleri & Woolf, 2017).
The adverse effects of the lead exposure in the sensitive populations like children
have a bad effect on the different organs and systems of humans. The toxic effects of lead can
vary from the subclinical and subtle responses to the serious intoxications. It can cause
clinical poisoning of the lead. Lead is a developmental neurotoxin that can hamper the
cognitive and motor functions as well as attention hyperactivity disorder. Children are most
exposed to lead due to lead in paint, toys and drinking water (Korfmacher & Hanley, 2013).
There are certain policies and laws that have been designed to mitigate the exposure
of the disease. This will help in saving the environment as well as the children who are being
continuously exposed to lead. A lot of laws have been passed by the Government in order to
reduce the chances of the exposure of the children to lead. These laws address various
sources of lead like paint, dust, lead in air, lead in water, soil. These laws address various
hazards that includes issuing the policies and then implementing or enforcing the laws (US
EPA, 2019). The regulated community also understands the federal requirements and policies
that will be helpful in reducing the danger of lead exposure in children. The Toxic Control
Act directs the use of lead in paint, dust and soil. For this it requires the renovation, repair
and painting of the house with lead free materials as long as possible. The use of lead can be
reduced by the lead abetment program that emphasizes on the reduction of the use of lead in
the household materials and also inspects homes and other children occupied facilities
(Eckelman & Sherman, 2016).
There are certain changes that need to be introduced in the policies that have been
executed by the Government. This will need to include the various stakeholders ranging from
the local community centres to the Government. The grass root level policies can be

4EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
introduced by the local community centres like organizing more campaigns that will increase
the rate of awareness among the individuals and especially the parents that will help them to
use the objects and materials that are generally lead free (Yan, Xu & Shen, 2013). The
community centres can also encourage the school children so that they can be taught about
the various habits like washing hands and also not putting the objects and soil into the mouth.
This will generate a sense of better understanding about the surroundings among the children
and they will be very cautious about the health hygiene. Here there are certain roles that has
to be played by the Government that will help the local community centres to properly
implement the policies. The Government can also provide fund to the various community
centres so that they are able to conduct the campaigns at a large scale from time to time. This
will help the local centres as they will not face any economic hardships and they will be able
to include a large section of the people as participants in the training system (Dapul &
Laraque, 2014).
There is also a need to change the healthcare system that deals with the treatment and
diagnosis of the patients who have been exposed to lead. The physicians only focus on the
fact that lead contamination can arise from the water and food contamination, and thus
generates the diagnosis is always dependent on the fact that the children should be kept away
from the things that can cause lead contamination. However, the physicians should also
include some applicative steps that the children can easily understand like telling them the
harmful effects of lead and the usefulness of hygiene is a story (Journal of Ethics | American
Medical Association, 2019).
Conclusion
Thus, from the policy brief it can be concluded that there are certain environmental
health hazards that can increase the risk to the normal health of an individual. Thus, there are

5EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
certain policies that have been developed by the Government in order to lower the risk of the
lead contamination. These laws can also be well implemented better if the local community
centres works along with the Government in order to spread the awareness about harmful
effects of lead contamination to a wider section of the community. The policies also outlines
the various needs that has to be undertaken by the healthcare system to reduce the risk of lead
exposure on the human health especially the children.

6EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH

7EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH
References
Apha.org. (2019). Environmental Health. Apha.org.
Dapul, H., & Laraque, D. (2014). Lead poisoning in children. Advances in pediatrics, 61(1),
313-333.
Eckelman, M. J., & Sherman, J. (2016). Environmental impacts of the US health care system
and effects on public health. PloS one, 11(6), e0157014.
Hauptman, M., Bruccoleri, R., & Woolf, A. D. (2017). An update on childhood lead
poisoning. Clinical pediatric emergency medicine, 18(3), 181-192.
Journal of Ethics | American Medical Association. (2019). Water Safety and Lead
Regulation: Physicians’ Community Health Responsibilities. Journal of Ethics |
American Medical Association.
Korfmacher, K. S., & Hanley, M. L. (2013). Are local laws the key to ending childhood lead
poisoning?. Journal of health politics, policy and law, 38(4), 757-813.
US EPA. (2019). Lead Laws and Regulations | US EPA. US EPA.
Yan, C. H., Xu, J., & Shen, X. M. (2013). Childhood lead poisoning in China: challenges and
opportunities.