Pet Exposure to Lead Paint & Dust in Homes
Just as easy as a child can be exposed to the health effects of lead dust, pets are just as susceptible, if not more to getting lead poisoned.
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ETS has completing thousands of Lead Assessments for poisoned children as well as guided concerned parents and home buyers on the reality of living in a home with lead based paint and the attention it deserves. We at ETS believe that the lead exposure concerns are often overlooked when it comes to our pets. For some of us, our pets are our children, and we love and care for them and their health. This is why we at ETS has designed a specific Lead Paint Assessment focused specifically on the identification and severity levels of lead hazards in the pet’s environment. Not only can pets get lead poisoned, but they can also generate lead dust to be released in the home and poison the family.
ETS identifies the potential lead hazards by utilizing XRF to instantly identify if something contains lead or not as well as taking dust samples and soil samples and sending to the lab for analysis. A customized report will be then given to the client that includes all the findings along with recommendations on how to remediate the lead hazards and make the home lead safe for your pet and family.
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Pets are Susceptible Too
Just as easy as a child can be exposed to the health effects of lead dust, pets are just as susceptible, if not more to getting lead poisoned. The primary concern for pets living in a home with lead-based paint is lead poisoning from pets ingesting lead paint chips or lead dust by putting objects covered with lead dust in their mouths and ingesting. Lead dust is the most dangerous to the pets because they are on floor level where lead dust is heavy. Their fur acts like a mop and soaks up the lead dust from the ground and ingests the lead dust by licking their fur causing poisoning of the pet.
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Puppies Are at Greater Risk
Similar to children, puppies are the most vulnerable to lead poisoning because their innate and indiscriminate habits of putting objects in their mouths. Licking their fur makes them most susceptible to ingesting lead dust or paint chips. Their proportionally smaller body mass allows dangerously high concentrations of lead to develop more easily with minimal exposure. A puppy’s metabolism, just like babies absorb calcium and transport it to the bones. Unfortunately, the puppy’s body can’t distinguish between lead and calcium. This means if a puppy eats some lead, then it becomes concentrated in their bones to act as a long-term reservoir. Lead more easily passes into the brain and causes neurological disease such as staggering, seizures and blindness.
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transfer lead dust to family
The pet can also create lead hazards by transferring lead dust to the family causing a potential lead poisoning to the family members, most commonly, the child. Often pets such as cats and dogs scratch painted areas such as walls, hardwood floors, door frames and window sills, old furniture that contain lead. This scratching can cause the lead dust to be released in the home. Pets, especially dogs can also bring in lead contaminated soil from the yard and contaminate your floors and furniture.
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Symptoms of Lead Poisoning in Pets
- Lethargy
- Decreased Appetite
- Seizures or Tremors
- Hiding or Aggression
- Uncoordinated Walking (Ataxia)
- Vomiting or Diarrhea
Symptoms of lead poisoning depend on if the pet ingests a high dose of lead at one time or ingests lead at low levels for a long period of time. Signs of lead poisoning range from a single high dose of lead that caused sudden vomiting and diarrhea, lethargy, and a decreased appetite. Ingesting lower levels of lead for a longer period of time and be noticed more slowly depending on the level of exposure. Neurological signs include walking uncoordinated (ataxia), seizures, tremors, and other sudden behavioral changes like hiding and aggression.
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Additional Resources
Lead Poisoning in Dogs, PetMD.com talks about the causes, signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in dogs. This article also provides treatment options and prevention tips.
"You will need to give a thorough history of your dog’s health leading up to the onset of symptoms, including a history of any contact with material containing lead, if possible. After recording your dog’s history, your veterinarian will perform a complete physical examination. Laboratory tests will include complete blood count, biochemistry profile, and urinalysis -- the results of which may reveal valuable information for initial diagnosis. Blood testing may reveal red blood cells of unequal size (anisocytosis), abnormally shaped red blood cells (poikilocytosis), variations in red blood cell coloring (polychromasia, hypochromasia), and increased number of neutrophils (type of white blood cells). Urinalysis results are often non-specific, and in some patients, abnormal concentrations of glucose may be seen in urine. If your dog is showing all of the appearances of lead poisoning, your doctor will use more specific tests available which will help your veterinarian to determine the levels of lead in both blood and body tissues.”
It Still Happens: Lead Poisoning in Pets, Petful.com gives some of the symptoms of lead poisoning and factors that put pets most at risk.
"When it comes to being inquisitive, puppies take the biscuit — literally. They’ll eat anything and everything, and they don’t let a little thing like whether it’s edible or not get in the way. But puppies are at greater risk of lead poisoning for other reasons as well. Their metabolism is geared to gobble up calcium and transport it to the bones. Unfortunately, that same mechanism can’t distinguish between lead and calcium. This means if a puppy eats some lead, then it becomes concentrated in their bones to act as a long-term reservoir. Worse even than this risk is that the protective barrier around the brain isn’t fully formed in puppies. Therefore lead more easily passes into the brain and causes neurological disease such as staggering, seizures and blindness.”
Lead Poisoning in Dogs and Cats, Pethealthnetwork.com talks about the causes, signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in dogs. This article also provides treatment options and prevention tips.
“Remember that children can also be poisoned by lead easily. The safest thing you can do is to avoid the use of anything containing lead in your house. This will help minimize the dangers of lead poisoning to all in the household."
Lead Poisoning: The Lessons of the Birds of Esperance, Animal Welfare Institute discusses how a sudden bird die-off in the town of Esperance, Australia was traced back to a shipment of lead contaminated ore that was transported though the city. Humans and pets can inadvertently be exposed to lead in the environment and bring toxic levels into their homes.
"In the Esperance lead disaster, thousands of birds died of acute lead poisoning. But, if thousands of birds died, how many other animals suffered from sub-lethal lead poisoning? And, what are the consequences to wildlife of sub-lethal lead exposure? There is a growing body of research indicating that exposure to lower levels of lead once considered "safe," especially chronic exposure, has serious adverse health effects. Once in the body, lead affects virtually every physiological system—cardiovascular, renal, reproductive, and especially the central nervous system. In fact, many sub-lethal negative effects have been found in both humans and animals. These include increased aggressive behavior in humans, cats, and other species; hypertension in people and dogs; learning and behavioral deficits in humans and gulls; and hearing loss in humans and monkeys. Other sub-lethal effects of lead exposure that have been found in people and other species include: decreased reproductive success, decreased IQ in children, cognitive impairment in the elderly, behavioral and psychiatric disorders, and altered immunological, physiological and biochemical processes.”