POISONED BY LEAD SOLDIERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1934, Page 9

POISONED BY LEAD SOLDIERS

CHILD WHO ATE HIS TOYS. A child's death was shown at an inquest, held at Stepndy, recently, ' to have been caused by biting his lead soldiers and tin motor-cars, and eating the paint off putty from the windows, thus setting up lead poisoning. It- was stated to be the fiist case' of its kind at London Hospital. The child, Major Geoige Brown, aged 3, of Rutland-street, Stepney, died in London Hospital recently. Dr F. J. Brice, house physician at London Hospital, said that when the child was admitted it was suspected that he had been suffering from lead poisoning since Muy of last year. Some lead soldiers with arms, heads and legs missing and with . teeth marks on them were brought to the hospital and the mother said she had found the child putting other things in its mouth. A post mortem examination showed that there was a large quantity of lead in the child’s bones, and the cause of death was convulsions - due io chronic lead poisoning. “We think the poisoning was due to a combination of the- soldiers, the paint from the toy motors and the paint, from the putty,” said Dr Brice. Dr R. L. Guthrie, the coroner: Have you had a case of this sort before? In a pretty long experience I have never known a case of lead poisoning in a child. Dr Brice: This is Hie first case of its sort we have had at London Hospital. In America they are more common. I think the lead soldiers are seldom blamed for children’s ill-

nesses, but I think children must eat a fair amount of them. Dr Guthrie: They are generally enamelled, are they not? Dr Brice: Yes, sir, but children bite through the enamel. Dr Guthrie said that although the child’s disease was the first case of its kind at London Hospital), they had very promptly diagnosed it by the most up-to-date methods.