Lead Poisoning: Gone but Not Forgotten

There was an article on April 21, 2010 featured in the http://www.nytimes.com which describes a mother in Staten Island who has a child who was tested for lead poisoning. The results show that he had double the level of lead than the federal government considers cause of concern about poisoning. This issue has decreased throughout the years that it was almost considered a thing of the past. There are jurisdiction that do not have lead hazard laws which require landlords to check exposed lead based paint if children are living in the home. The compliance in New York City is lacking despite a comprehensive law which was passed in 2004. There was a survey among 120 tenants in Bushwick, Brooklyn which reported 59% of landlords has not followed any of the law.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) http://www.epa.gov will design a regulation that requires renovation and remodeling contractors to be certified in techniques for containing lead dust created during work. As a result, contractors are aware that the cost of renovation projects will increase in cost. This rule would apply to homes that were built before lead paint was banned in 1978. Governor David Paterson is researching ways to incorporate lead inspections into requirements for building permits and state assistance such as money for weatherization projects. The boroughs with the highest amount of lead in the soil are Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HUD) reported there were 31,463 violations in 2009 and the cost of repair reached $6 million. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov has prevention tips on how to protect children from lead paint, especially those under the age of 6 years who are at risk. It is estimated that 24 million housing units have leaded paint and lead contaminated house dust.

To illustrate this topic, the video "Lead Poisoning in Kids" was provided by the show How Stuff Works on February 20, 2009. It was aired on the Discovery Channel.