Serious Environmental Health Concerns for Children

When considered in terms of 1) the number of children affected, 2) the nature of the impairments, 3) the immediacy of the impact, 4) the strength of the evidence and 5) the disproportionate prevalence among poor and minority children, lead poisoning and asthma are two of our most serious environmental health concerns for children in Cleveland. Both lead poisoning and asthma are caused or aggravated by residential exposures and outdoor pollution.

Lead poisoning and asthma diminish a child's school performance and their opportunities to learn. Asthma is a major cause of school absenteeism and may impair the child's ability to participate in a full range of activities. Lead poisoning damages a young child's developing brain, causing learning and behavioral disabilities.

Where prevalence is high, as in many areas of Cleveland, the impact goes beyond just the child and their family.  Lead poisoning affects the entire community through poor performance in schools, higher dropout rates and less employable young people. Studies of chronic lead exposure have shown that it can result in half of the expected number of children with IQ scores greater than 125 and twice the number with IQs less than 80.

Childhood Lead Poisoning - Down, But Not Out

Despite dramatic declines in childhood lead poisoning over the past twenty years, the rate in Cleveland remains extremely high. Based on testing in 2004 of 15,410 children under six, 11% were lead poisoned or about one in nine children. The estimated total number lead-poisoned children in Cleveland is 5,149. In low-income and minority inner-city neighborhoods, the rates are even higher, ranging up to one in four.

Young children are typically poisoned by exposure to lead in peeling paint, dust and soil, that gets on their hands, toys and eventually to their mouths. Leaded paint was used in most houses and apartments built prior to the 1950s and in some until the late 1970s. Deteriorated or improperly removed leaded paint contaminates household dust and soil. Lead used in gasoline until the 1980s also contaminates soil, which can be tracked into the house and blown in through open windows and doors.

Lead can cross the placental barrier, so pregnant women exposed to lead may passed it to the developing fetus. Women exposed to lead as young girls may have lead stored in their bones that can be mobilized and pass to the fetus if the pregnant women does not have adequate nutrition. Thus, the very same lead atoms that poisoned the mother can poison her child.

Childhood Asthma - The Increase is Breathtaking

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood. It is a condition in which over-sensitivity to allergens and irritants trigger the lungs to become inflamed and clogged. It causes recurrent breathing problems than can range from mild to life-threatening. Asthma's prevalence has more than doubled in the last two decades. Deaths of children from asthma, now nearly 1,500 a year, increased by 50% in the 1980s. Asthma is the most common admitting diagnosis for children at both MetroHealth Medical Center and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.

Asthma triggers include allergens, respiratory infections, physical exertion, emotional stress and irritants in the indoor and outdoor air. Outdoor asthma triggers include pollen, diesel exhaust, ozone and fine particles. Indoor asthma triggers include cockroaches, mice, dust mites, tobacco smoke, animal dander and molds. Cockroach "dust" (droppings and body parts) and mouse urine, in particular, contain powerful allergens that increase the frequency and severity of asthma attacks.

To combat roaches many families use pesticide sprays that are themselves toxic and contain chemicals that may trigger asthma. Safer and more effective methods for roach elimination use environmental controls (deny roaches food, water, hiding places and entry) and roach baits (low-toxicity, low-volatility pesticides, applied in tiny amounts, out of the reach of children).