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Many jobs put people in contact with pollutants.  Take care not to bring them home on your work clothes, shoes, or tools.  Change clothes before entering your home.  Also, wash all work clothes separately.

Work places that often contain lead:
Construction, demolition, or painting; work with batteries; or work in a radiator repair shop or lead factory. 

Exposure to lead often harms children’s abilities to learn.  It can result in damage to the brain, kidneys, blood, central nervous system, and reproductive system. Children are particularly sensitive to the chronic effects of lead, some of which are slowed mental development and reduced growth.

Work places that often contain mercury:
Thermometer/barometer or fluorescent light manufacturing or the chlor-alkali industry. 

Mercury causes brain damage and can slow your child’s progress in reaching developmental milestones, like walking and talking.  Permanent effects to the brain include mental retardation, inability to move, and speech impairments.  If mercury vapors are inhaled, they can damage the lungs, stomach, and intestines.