Mother’s chilling warning to other parents after discovering lead in her family’s BATH TUB is linked to her three-year-old son’s behavioural problems
- When her son was diagnosed with autism, they also found lead toxicity in him
- She read that bathtubs built before 1970 could have contained lead in them
- She tested her tub and found that it contained significant amounts of lead
- NSW Health said lead poisoning can lead to developmental delays in children
A mother-of-two who was experiencing behavioural issues with her eldest son learned he was exposed to lead, which can cause developmental delays, in the bath.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, took her three-year-old to the doctors after she noticed the issues, and the little boy was diagnosed with autism.
Much to the Sydney family’s surprise, the paediatrician also noticed ‘lead toxicity’ in his results.
She told Yahoo News the diagnosis ‘took them all by surprise’ because the family was a ‘typical health conscious Australian family’.
A mother-of-two who was experiencing behavioural issues with her eldest son learned he was exposed to lead, which can cause developmental delays, in the bath
But her son’s sleeplessness, emotional outbursts, and inability to self regulate made life difficult, and she chose to do further research into the harms of lead toxicity.
The concerned mother wanted to know how her son had been exposed to lead, not only for his safety but also for that of her 13-month-old baby as well.
Eventually she came across reports claiming bathtubs built before the 1970s often contained lead.
Worried that her tub – built with the home in the 1950s – may have been doing more harm than good, she equipped herself with a home testing dye kit.
The kit came with a series of instructions and said to swab the drain. If dangerous amounts of lead were found, the swab would turn red.
‘Once I swabbed the bath, the dye reacted with the lead and instantly turned red,’ she said.
Worried that her tub – built with the home in the 1950s – may have been doing more harm than good, she equipped herself with a home testing dye kit
The mother said she had been bathing her two sons in the tub since they were born, and that she herself had grown up in the home and also used it as a child.
NSW Health agreed lead poisoning could result in challenging childhood behaviours and could be blamed for his developmental delays.
‘Lead exposure in childhood can cause behaviour and attention problems, learning difficulties and cognitive losses.’
The mother said she will work alongside her paediatrician to remove any lead toxins from her son’s body.
She said its worth all parents picking up a home testing kit to double check their bath tubs aren’t also affected.
The mother said she had been bathing her two sons in the tub since they were born, and that she herself had grown up in the home and also used it as a child (stock image)