I am excited to share that the article I wrote for Mayim Bialik’s GrokNation.com was published today (10/22/2018) for National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
I shared the article on Facebook earlier today and my friend Christina re-shared it with the following comment that I wanted to also share with all of you:
As I read this about Avi, and Tamara, I see the same struggles we face with Charlie. Charlie was poisoned by lead her first elevated test was at 1 year, her level was 9, the current level of concern is 5, when she was retested in August, her level was FORTY SEVEN. 47. She has permanent irreparable brain damage, and in some ways, she’s a perfectly happy 10 year old, until you look closer. When you see her struggle to write, to get words from her brain to her hand, to form letters, and the affect this has on her, that she’s not able to meet her piers in this and other measures. She has Fine and Gross Motor Control issues, ADHD caused by Lead Poisoning, Acquired Brain injury, she has trouble forming bonds with children her own age, etc etc etc.
And how you ask did this come about? The house we rented in 2008 was a row house on High Street in Whitinsville Mass, one of the oldest houses from the Whitin Machine Works, built in the 1890’s. Mind you, this home had a lead certificate, I ASKED the right questions, but what I didn’t know, is that the method of making the lead safe in the house was encapsulation, and encapsulation requires maintenance, maintenance the landlords failed to do. The man from the state that came to investigate our house, said it was the highest levels of lead his machine would read, and it was EVERYWHERE.
I love my Charlie with every inch of me, she is perfectly imperfect, we will face every struggle together, but YOU DON’T HAVE TO. Learn the risks, make sure you ask about lead paint in your older rentals, use lead safe practices when eliminating lead risks
– Christina Winslow
Click the image below to read the article on the Grok Nation blog.
Click here to share the article on Facebook.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
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