Children are especially vulnerable to poisoning because of exposure to items containing lead, whether purchased second-hand or new from a local discount store.
A vintage military-style trunk she bought at an eastern Michigan flea market when she was a teenager became a staple of Jennifer Poupard's life.
Poupard, now 37, originally bought it to store her CDs. Over the years the trunk — styled with leather handles and metal buckles — served as a container for shoes, a coffee table and as a resting place for a record player.
When her child, Wallace, was born in 2013, it was put to a new use.
“[Wallace] would pull the stand at that trunk and turn around and run to me,” Poupard said. “And that is around when I noticed the numbers going up.”
The numbers that went up were Wallace's blood lead levels.