Childhood lead poisoning is preventable. In the United States, the major source of lead exposure among children is lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust found in buildings built before 1978. No safe level of lead exposure has been identified.
In children, most cases of acute poisoning are accidental, benign, and mainly attributed to the ingestion of a non-toxic substance. This points to the need for better information of the population on availability of poison control centre calling facilities, in order to decrease the number of admissions to the PECU.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration's Poison Help project, 51% of poisoning exposures occur in children under age 6 Poison Control Centers can be valuable resources in helping to prevent poisonings in communities.
Acute poisoning in children is still a major public health problem, and represents a frequent cause of admission in emergency departments. We carried out an epidemiological study of poisonings leading to admission to a paediatric emergency care unit (PECU).