I wrote this on November 30, 2019... on the very real impacts of Lead Poisoning ("Stop worrying about shit, just do something!")

Originally Posted on Facebook – November 30, 2019
Updates in Blue

LISTEN. I am in a bad mood today. You NEED to get how serious Lead is and how important prenatal and preconception testing is. Today my 11 year old (poisoned in utero) BUSTED OUR FRONT DOOR! And it is COLD outside and now there is a huge draft. LEAD POISONING DOES NOT CAUSE HYPOTHETICAL PROBLEMS. Lead poisoning causes broken doors, broken televisions, broken windows, broken stoves and broken bones and broken marriages. It causes poverty and job loss and complaints from the neighbors and lots of anxiety and upset and frustration (and sometimes very broken parents at the end of the day.) This is REAL. Please do protect your babies. Do NOT use this information to fuel OCD*, use it to take action – just get the Lead out of your lives and get yourselves tested, get your babies tested and get your homes tested. You cannot change the past – but you can make a difference for the future of your family. Thank you. Ok. End Rant. Off my “soap box” now.

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*OCD is real (my kiddo has OCD as an impact of his acute Lead poisoning) – BUT OCD over Lead is NOT necessarily a misplaced concern… BUT Lead is easy to avoid (read more on that below)….

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EXAMPLE ONE: Christmas Lights

Are you worried about Christmas Lights having toxicants? THEN DITCH THE FUCKING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! It’s that easy! Who needs them anyway! Don’t WORRY about which ones are best and which ones are least toxic and which ones are best for the environment. K? [Hint: they are ALL bad for the environment!]

EXAMPLE TWO: Dishes

If you are WORRIED if your plates have Lead, get new plates (simple!) [There are LOTS of links for Lead free dishes on this site, click this link and watch this video so you can find them on your own in the future!]

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You cannot change the past however…

EXAMPLE THREE: Fireworks

One mama with OCD called me because she was worried that her baby inhaled toxic fumes from fireworks (you know who you are – I love you sweetie – I am sure you are reading this!). Don’t worry about something like that – take action and make choices. Actions can include: getting a blood test after a suspected exposure (not 100% required but not hard to do) AND/OR increasing garlic in the kiddo’s diet AND/OR avoiding fireworks displays (at close proximity) in the future – easy.

NOTE: I wouldn’t necessarily recommend a blood test after a single exposure to fireworks fumes (it is not likely to show up in the blood since most blood tests are not *that* accurate or specific) BUT if your kiddo hasn’t had a blood test in 6 months AND they had exposure to a massive amount of fireworks smoke… well – it couldn’t hurt to retest them at this time… 6 month intervals for BLL testing up to 6 years old is not too much. Annual testing is fine – I recommend annual BLL testing through the teen years (per the advice of the late/ great Dr. John Rosen). Use your judgment – follow your instincts. I know you are a good parent and making good decisions or you wouldn’t be thinking about these concerns. Think WWTD (What would Tamara do?) Tamara lets her kids watch fireworks from afar, takes them star gazing in dark sky preserves instead and doesn’t get them tested if they walk past some fireworks at close proximity accidentally.

EXAMPLE FOUR: Play dates

Worried about the neighbor’s home having Lead so you don’t want to send your kid there for playdates? Follow my example: HAVE ALL THE PLAY DATES AT YOUR HOUSE (then you don’t have to worry any more!) Same goes for relatives… host all the Holidays at YOUR house if you have concerns for Lead at Grandma’s. WWTD? Tamara made grandma (my mom) get her house tested for Lead and didn’t let the kids stay there or visit there unsupervised until we knew the house passed a Lead test. Simple.

I will write this up in a post on my blog soon too.
(apparently “soon” = more than a year later in the vortex of interrupt driven directives that is my life and work!)

Thanks for *listening*… and if you want to help me (personally) in some way – please hire me for a home consultation (I WILL GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!) … because now not only do I need to earn money to pay all the legal bills (still true!), but apparently (as of today) I need $ to fix my G-ddamn broken door. Thank you. [Links to hire me: phone consults, speaking engagements, home consults.]

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Picture is of what came up when I googled “Soap Box” just now!

P.S. Update: Friday, January 8, 2021

Speaking of broken parents…I actually did break a bone this week… headed in to surgery right now – 2:30 p.m. EST, January 8, 2021 (first big broken bone in my life actually)… Not directly tied to Lead poisoning – but one could say… semi-directly, as this accident (slipping on a floor in Maine at 2:30 in the morning) probably would not have happened had I not had Lead poisoning prevention (and helping other families protect their kids) as a priority in my life! [I had just arrived back in Maine to get a bunch of work done on my own, after bringing my kids home to my husband!] Wish me luck in surgery. I really didn’t need this right now. And I will also shamelessly say, please consider contributing in support of my work if you can. Things are critical right now – with my lawsuit mediation scheduled for next week, and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees still to cover! Thank you. – Tamara (Chip-In Link here.)