After being ingested, lead enters the bloodstream and is absorbed and stored in many tissues and organs in the body, including the liver, kidneys, brain, teeth, and bones. High levels can cause serious health problems in your children and can affect almost every organ system of the body, causing many different symptoms.
In children, lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, decreased muscle and bone growth, speech and language problems, and behavior problems.
In adults the effects of lead poisoning can include kidney damage, physical fatigue, high blood pressure, fertility problems in men and women, digestive problems, memory and concentration problems, muscle or joint pain, irritability, mood and personality changes, changes in sleep patterns, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, and decreased sex drive.
Lead a lethal hazard for adults, too
Newsday, May 19, 2007
At high levels, lead can affect the central nervous system, leading to poor coordination, weakness in hands and feet, headaches, and in severe cases, convulsions, paralysis, and coma.
People who work in industries where they are exposed to lead may also expose their own family to lead hazards when workers wear their work clothes home and wash them with the family laundry or when they bring scrap or waste material home from work.