Imported, Plastic Mini-Blinds
Identified as Potential Source of Lead Poisoning
RALEIGH -- Public health officials in several North Carolina counties have found imported
plastic mini-blinds containing lead to be a potential source of lead poisoning in young
children. The state Division of Environmental Health recommends that parents and day care
operators remove plastic mini-blinds imported from southeast Asia and Mexico from areas
where young children can reach them. "It is more complicated and expensive to
reliably test a blind than to replace it," Ed Norman, head of the state's childhood
lead poisoning prevention program, said. "Parents who are not sure about their blinds
are better off moving them out of reach of young children and away from food and kitchen
equipment."
These particular mini-blinds are composed of a material that breaks down and turns to
dust, Norman said. Laboratory tests show that this dust contains high levels of lead.
Children become exposed to lead by either putting their hands in their mouths after
touching the blinds or by putting the blinds directly in their mouths.
Cabarrus, Guilford and Mecklenburg county health departments have each reported a
lead-poisoned child, with at least one source of the exposure being mini-blinds in the
home. The Arizona Department of Health Services has also found mini-blinds to be a source
of childhood lead poisoning. In one Arizona case, no other source of exposure could be
identified. State lead specialists will continue to collect information on all types of
mini-blinds as part of routine inspections of daycare centers and investigations for
lead-poisoned children.
For the past two years, public health officials have been encouraging blood lead tests for
all children younger than 6. Children that have been recently tested should not have to be
tested again, unless the imported plastic mini-blinds have since been installed in their
homes. (If the manufacturer's location is not evident on the blinds, parents should
contact the store where they were purchased.) The State Public Health Laboratory offers
blood-lead analysis to these children at no charge. A child's blood sample may be taken at
most county health departments or at the child's next visit to the doctor or clinic. Lead
poisoning can cause reduced intelligence, a greater chance of dropping out of school,
misbehavior and, in extreme cases, death.