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- Lead poisoning makes it tough for children and their families. When there are lots of lead-poisoned children, it makes it tough for the entire community. If you are worried about . . .
- poor school performance - low proficiency scores and high drop-out ratesunprepared workforce - poor work skills and low productivity
- crime and delinquency - drug use, drug dealing, violence
. . . then worry about lead poisoning
- Lead Safe Living Campaign. The Nation's Health; a monthly journal of the American Public Health Association (June/July 2006) covered the launch of Cleveland's Lead Safe Living Campaign.
- Greater Cleveland's Plan to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning by 2010
- Controlling and preventing lead hazards in low-income housing requires changes in maintenance, repair and renovation practices. This presents opportunities as well as difficult issues.
- "The combination of old homes and a frequent lack of routine maintenance accounts for Cleveland ranking third nationally in childhood lead poisoning, with 3,424 sickening in 2001 . . . Only Chicago and New York had more cases." Tomorrow's Promise: The Stained Child (Plain Dealer 7/04)
- "In 1998. . . Ohio had the second-largest percentage of children who tested positive. Cuyahoga County had the highest percentage among all the counties surveyed." Lingering Menace (Plain Dealer 9/01)
- Lead poisoning contributes to violence by permanently damaging impulse control as well as interfering with children's abilities to succeed in school, making them more likely to engage in antisocial behavior. Toxic Lead and Violence (PDF) (Rachel's Environmental Health News)
- "Environmental lead in low-income housing begins a conveyor-belt of tragedy that inevitably produces precisely the symptoms of 'failing schools'." A Strange Ignorance - The Role of Lead Poisoning in 'Failing Schools' [Arizona School Boards Association]
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What’s a Few IQ Points? It is well-established that low-level lead exposure can reduce a child’s IQ. When lead poisoning is widespread in a community, the normal distribution of IQs is shifted toward the lower end. More children in the community have developmental disabilities and fewer are intellectually gifted. This is illustrated in the graphs below, based on In Harm’s Way - Toxic Threats to Child Development. See also Our Stolen Future and the 1991 CDC statement on Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children. Further, disadvantaged populations may start with an IQ distribution skewed lower, making the the lead effect even greater. (See "A rationale for lowering the blood lead action level from 10 to 2 μg/dL," Steven G. Gilbert and Bernard Weiss, Neurotoxicology (On-Line 2006) <http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2006.06.008>.)
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Lead and the Community - What We Know
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Lead poisoning is a personal and family tragedy. It robs children of their potential -they enter the race of life weighed down by lead:
.
If a
child can't read, sit still, or stop hitting their playmates,
it may be lead poisoning.
.
If a
child drops out of school, can't get a job, uses drugs, it may
be lead poisoning.
.
Lead poisoning makes it tough for children and their families. When there are lots of lead-poisoned children, it makes it tough for the entire community.
.
Worried
about children's poor school performance - low proficiency scores
and high drop-out rates? Worry about lead poisoning.
.
Worried
about poor workforce preparation - inadequate work skills and
low productivity? Worry about lead poisoning.
.
Worried
about crime - delinquency, drug use, drug dealing, violence?
Worry about lead poisoning.
.
Lead poisoning is not just a problem for the poisoned child and their family. Lead poisoning is a problem for the entire community. It's your problem too.
.
Part of the problem and part of the solution:
.
Of
course, lead poisoning is not the only cause, or even the major
cause of school failure, an unprepared workforce and crime.
.
But
there is strong, accumulating scientific research evidence that
it plays a significant role in these problems.
.
And
lead poisoning is a cause that we can do something about - we
know how to prevent lead poisoning by reducing lead hazards.
.
We know the prevalence of childhood lead poisoning is very high (2004):
.
- The
rate in Cleveland overall is about 11%; in some neighborhoods
much higher.
- The
rate has declined dramatically over the past several years
- The
decline is likely to level-off without further action
.
We know lead poisoning makes it -
.
- hard
to learn
- hard
to pay attention
- hard
to do well in school
- hard
to stay out of trouble
.
We know lead poisoning is linked to -
.
- lowered
IQ
- poor
school performance
- high
drop-out rates
- delinquency,
crime and violence
.
We know for lead poisoning -
.
- there
is no medical treatment to reverse the brain damage
- there
is brain damage at blood lead levels even lower than the current
definition of lead poisoning
- reduction
of lead hazards in a child's environment can prevent lead poisoning
.
We know lead hazard reduction works -
.
-
it
can be done safely
-
it
can last
-
it
can be done at moderate cost, especially if done preventively
- during renovation, repair, repainting and regular maintenance
.
More Information on Lead Poisoning
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LEAD
POISONING