For more than 30 years, it is testing children’s blood for small BC city lead
As the school-age children return to classes in the trail, BC, children under three in the internal community are completing the tradition of a more unusual end-pilgrims-their blood test to determine how much their body has led.
Internal health public health nurses have been offering these tests in the region since 1991, for children between the ages of six to three years, because lead smelter emissions have been a concern in the area for decades.
And while last year’s results showed relatively low levels, medical experts say that there is no safe level of lead in the blood.
Lead – a toxin – naturally occurs in rock and soil, although it is also released in the environment through mining and smelting according to Canada.
People often come in contact with poison through food, drinking water and consumer products, which leads to lead, but those who live near and they work in smelters face high rates of exposure.
The trail is home to one of the last lead smelters in North America, which employs more than 1,400 people. As 2021 censusThere are about 14,000 people living in the trail census area.
Along with the city and the local health authority, the smelter company, tech resources, leads are well aware of the risks of living near the lead smelter, so the three participated to create a trail area health and environment program with the province (((Thepe) – Which leads testing in air, soil and blood, and the education campaign and dust control.
Tech told CBC News in an email that it is trying to reduce emissions; In addition to its participation in Thep, the company installed a Kivcet smelter in 1997, which states that emissions decreased by 99.5 percent. Tech said that it also has a program to reduce the lead dust in the air, which has seen an 80 percent decrease in the annual environment level since 2012.
Even with all the tasks they do, the test still finds the lead volume lead, though. In 2024, blood tests on children under three years of age were found to have an average lead blood level 2.2 micrograms per decillitra – which was similar to the first year.
Although this number may appear small, experts say that there is no safe level of lead in the blood.
“We can see a microgram below a microgram below a microgram at the University of Health Sciences at the University of Simon Fraser,” Bruce Lammier at the University of Simon Fraser with an expertise in the lead poisoning by Bruce Lammian at the University of Health.
“Below the lowest average levels, we see the risk of ADHD-type behavior, including IQ deficiency in children, when we think of pregnant women, we can also see, with a very low increase in blood leadership, an increased risk of pre-term births.”
Public Health Nurse Meghan Morris stated that TheP’s testing program focuses on children under three as lead is common among exposure toddlers and infants, who can be exposed to creep on the floor and lead the dust while putting their hands in their mouths.
“The lowest level is possible for each individual child, which is our program, so we teach and support for all the families living in more and more trail sectors.”
And while education and testing are great, Lanfier said that someone should be more performed to prevent leading in bloodstream – child or adult.
“Low-level lead poisoning is one of the major risk factors for heart attack,” he said.
“We need to address it more aggressively than being in the past.”
However, he also recognizes a community like the trail, which has trusted the industry for more than 100 years, when it comes to eradicating lead exposure while protecting the local economy.
“This is a real challenge that I think for such communities because they are very dependent on these industries,” said Lanfier.
