Getting the Lead Out

Let me call your attention to two recent stories about lead exposure: 1) A study of children in my home state of Wisconsin, reporting that more than 7,500 of them have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Researchers blame leaded paint in old houses for much of the exposure. Nationwide the number of children […]

Let me call your attention to two recent stories about lead exposure:

  1. A study of children in my home state of Wisconsin, reporting that more than 7,500 of them have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Researchers blame leaded paint in old houses for much of the exposure. Nationwide the number of children with elevated lead levels is estimated at more than 250,000. Despite that GOP legislators successfully defunded federal lead removal programs in poor neighborhoods earlier this year.

  2. A new United Nations report warningthat paint used in developing countries continues to contain lead in dangerously high levels, with some samples registering more than 10,000 ppm. The agency noted that lead poisoning and its legacy - illnesses, disabilities, deaths, penalties, clean up- is estimated to cost the global economy more than $900 billion a year.

I mention these stories because lead poisoning is remarkably stubborn public health issue. And because this is again National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. And because this year, for the first year, it's also the first International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action.

The World Health Organization estimates that143,000 people die from lead poisoning and that some 600,000 new cases of children with impaired cognitive function can be attributed to lead exposure every year. According to a WHO statement: "Lead poisoning is considered by WHO to be one of the top 10 chemical exposures of major public health concern. And it’s particularly worrying because it affects children and a developing fetus."

There's a host of good information about lead, lead exposure, how to protect yourself, your family, and your community that's made available during National Lead Prevention Week. For instance, this storythat warns that children can also be exposed to lead from bathing in older bathtubs which often used lead in enamels.

You can also find great information timed from the EPA, the CDC, and countless state health departments.

This year's theme is "LeadFree Kids for a Healthy Future." I can't think of a single argument against that, can you?

Image: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency