Lead Poisoning – Lead is present in many useful products that are part of our everyday lives, yet it is harmful to our health. For children, the source of lead poisoning is often dust and soil contamination from deteriorated lead-based paint – a significant problem in cities, towns, and rural areas with older housing stock. It can also come from lead-contaminated toys, as well as folk remedies and medicines.
Click here for important lead-poisoning information and resources for parents, including links to recall information. For some adults, the workplace presents additional sources from processes where lead is being removed, recycled, or used in creating products. The consequences of exposure are significant; early brain and neurological development can be severely affected in children exposed to lead from water, air, or soil. Death may even result from cases of extreme and prolonged ingestion.
Blood-lead analysis is a key tool in managing the risks, and over the past 30+ years, ESA's blood lead-analysis products have been instrumental in helping reduce the instances of lead poisoning in children and adults worldwide through community and workplace lead testing. In fact, ESA was founded in 1968 by four MIT PhDs who set out to develop an easy, foolproof, and cost-effective way to measure blood lead levels, and it remains the only company today that offers total blood lead solutions – from sample collection to final result. Using proven (ASV), ESA makes blood-lead analysis rapid and routine, without the high costs and difficulties associated with other analytical methods, such as graphite furnace atomic absorption instruments, which require outside ventilation and expert operators. ESA offers both point-of-care and benchtop lead analyzers.
The world’s only CLIA-waived point-of-care blood-lead analyzer – our new LeadCare II system is an improved, waived version of the original LeadCare® – the standard for physician's office lead testing. LeadCare is also a vital part of many states' Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs. Based on proprietary electrochemical-detection technology, the system includes a small instrument along with single-use sensor strips, which together provide a quantitative measurement from a drop of blood in only three minutes. Its portability and ease of use allow public health workers to perform the screening where at-risk children receive care. The LeadCare system's immediate results provide clinicians with an opportunity to educate families about the dangers of lead and how they can minimize a child's exposure. Studies demonstrate that this approach is an effective means for reducing child lead levels in communities.
ESA makes a bench-top blood lead analyzer for small- to mid-volume clinical and hospital laboratories that provides an accurate blood lead measurement in 90 seconds. The Model 3010B lead analyzer is ideally suited for industrial-hygiene applications, such as lead-exposure-monitoring of workers. In addition, ESA offers comprehensive lead-monitoring and analysis services. We also have a new easy-to-use lab analyzer in development – LeadLab – that incorporates the technical advances of LeadCare II into a small-footprint system designed specifically to meet the needs of hospital- and community-based labs. Click on the links below for more information.
Click here for specific information about lead screening for your state. |
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