It's National Lead Poison Prevention Week!

This week is National Lead Poison Prevention Week, a week to create awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning.

Originally designed to bring awareness of lead dangers for children, the National Lead Poison Prevention Week is also a great time to bring awareness to the dangers of lead poison for dogs!

What you may not know is that lead in our environment is much more prevalent than many realize. Dogs by nature are mouthy creatures, they lick surfaces, eat soil, chew toys and drink water from whatever container you may provide for them and more. All of this mouthing could be a recipe for a dangerous amount of lead intoxication to lead to lead poisoning in your dog unless you know what to help them avoid.

Many believe that lead based paint is the most common source of lead poisoning in children and pets. But the reality is that exposure can occur through a wide variety of sources including lead paint, dog toys, drinking water, ceramic bowls and more.

If your home was built before 1978, chances are it was painted with lead containing paint. Undisturbed this paint is not dangerous, but doors painted with lead paint when rubbed together and chipped lead paint can expose enough lead toxin in the environment to poison a child and a dog.

If you suspect that your home may contain lead paint or any of your furniture may have been painted before 1978, or if you have lead pipes in your older home, we encourage you to have your home and items tested for potential lead exposure by contacting your local certified lead inspector and renovator.

In addition, in past years we've written about a wide variety of products that dogs are exposed to that may contain dangerous amounts of lead; everything from water from the garden house, tennis balls and other toys made in China, to certain types of dog bowls. We encourage you to read up on these past posts to learn more about how to keep your dog safe.

• Is your dog bowl safe?
• Does your dog love water from the garden hose? Be careful, there may be dangers lurking there.
• Is your tennis ball safe?

For more information about lead poisoning and lead related potential sources visit the CDC website. And to learn about the symptoms and treatment options for lead poisoning in dogs visit PetMD.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.