HOUSING - LEAD CONTAMINATION
HOW DO YOU GET LEAD POISONING?
Children get lead poisoning by ingesting lead dust, lead-contaminated soil, or particles of paint containing lead. Adults can also suffer from lead contamination, but the dangers to children are significantly higher because their body mass is smaller, they are growing rapidly and they have a tendency to put objects and fingers into their mouths. Children, particularly babies who are growing, need calcium for their bodies. If they do not have an adequate diet and/or are exposed to lead hazards, their bodies absorb lead as though it is calcium. Their brains and nervous systems are easily damaged by lead exposure.
What does lead poisoning do to children?
Children's Hospital lists the following common symptoms of lead poisoning:
- Damage to the brain and nervous system
- Behavior and learning problems
- Slowed growth
- Hearing problems
- Headaches
- Anemia
- Lack of impulse control leading to involvement with the juvenile justice system
The Children's Hospital also states the following effects upon adults:
- Difficulties during pregnancy
- Reproductive problems in both men and women
- High blood pressure
- Digestive problems
- Nerve disorder
- Hearing problems
- Memory and concentration problems
- Muscle and joint pain
High levels of lead may also cause seizures, coma, and death. (www.cincinnatichildrens.org) Research on lead poisoning has documented the extremely high percentage of lead in the hair of adult prison inmates convicted of violent crime such as rape and murder. Current research is exploring whether some older adult dementia is caused by lead leaching from older adult bones as a result of osteoporosis.
GREATER CINCINNATI HOUSING
While the national rate of childhood lead poisoning is less than 5%, it is estimated to be between 25%-40% for poor children in dilapidated housing in Cincinnati's oldest neighborhoods.
The primary source of lead poisoning today is from indoor and outdoor deteriorating, chipped, or peeling paint, or paint dust on sidewalks and yards next to older painted buildings. Even with growing evidence of the dangers of lead paint, banned in Europe in the 1930's, the paint industry persisted in promoting its sale. Old advertisements from the 1940's and 50's stressed how much better paint was with the addition of lead. In 1970, Federal legislation prohibited the use of lead paint in federally financed and subsidized housing, but it wasn't until 1978 that the Consumer Products Safety Commission prohibited the use of all lead paint in housing. (www.cincinnatichildrens.org)
Most housing in Greater Cincinnati was erected prior to 1978, when lead paint was banned. Much of Cincinnati's older housing consists of soft brick that has been painted from the time the buildings were new to protect them from the weather. This old paint continues to peel and wash off the buildings when it rains. In older areas such as Over the Rhine and the West End, even new housing has sometimes become contaminated by dust tracked in from the street, the source of which is deteriorating brick buildings nearby.
Lead poisoning is a problem in old housing anywhere, not only in the city. Low-income, poorly housed children throughout the country remain at high risk. Limited available low-cost housing makes many parents reluctant to have their children tested for lead because they fear that they will have to move if the home is the source of contamination. Children cannot be treated at Children's Hospital if they will return to homes identified as contaminated, but there is no follow-up to see that another family with children doesn't move into that contaminated unit. For a family seeking to move, there are few options for lead-safe, affordable housing near public transportation lines.
Older more affluent communities also have many homes built before regulations concerning the use of lead in paint went into effect. Household dust from remodeling often poses a serious problem. Homeowners, as well as unlicensed remodelers may not always use lead-safe techniques when remodeling a home.
A common question is "If there was so much lead in house paint and gasoline when I was young why didn't I get lead poisoning?" Two primary preventions were common up to the 1960's: cleaner houses as housewives washed coal and lead dust from their walls, window sills, floors, porches and sidewalks. Cheap apartments did not have carpeting which is a major lead dust collection point, particularly if tenants have inefficient or no vacuum cleaners. Our grandmothers cooked basic foods with lower fat content and less food processing, providing their children with healthier diets and constant reminders to wash their hands.
CINCINNATI HISTORY OF EFFORTS TO COMBAT LEAD POISONING
Cincinnati has been the home base for major national and international lead research for over 20 years. At Children's Hospital, Dr. Bruce Lanphear documented that there is a reduction in IQ of two points for every microgram per deciliter (µ/dcl) of lead in children's blood. Over a 20-year period, Dr. Kim Deitrich of UC Dept. of Environmental Health researched the drug Succimer, which is successful in chelating (removing) lead from blood but cannot repair neurological damage. Dr. Dietrich documented high levels of learning disabilities and special education problems, attention deficit disorder, high anger and lack of impulse control, early school drop out (and expulsion) rates and self-reported incidents of juvenile delinquent behaviors from subjects in his study.
Dr. Robert Bornshein and Mr. Bill Menrath, also from UC Department of Environmental Health, have done research on several Cincinnati neighborhoods. The Smart Streets project cleaned several streets in Over the Rhine, initiated different maintenance cleaning techniques and schedules for street and sidewalk cleanings and documented the rate of lead recontamination. Some streets in OTR have lead levels exceeding those of Leadville, CO, a Superfund site.
By 2002, with significant input from Children's Hospital research, the UC Department of Environmental Health and the Better Housing League, the Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati identified strategies for significantly reducing childhood lead poisoning in our area. Major issues and problems identified by the report included:
- Inconsistent and differing data about incidence, prevalence and scope of lead poisoning.
- Differing viewpoints regarding policies on routine screening of children.
- Differing viewpoints on cost and cost-benefit of lead abatement activities.
- Lack of public awareness about the extent and cost of lead poisoning in the Greater Cincinnati community.
- The multiplicity of problems faced by poor people in Cincinnati, including the lack of safe, affordable housing.
- Failure of the state of Ohio to pass laws that was consistent with federal requirements.
- Insufficient financial resources to properly clean lead infested housing. (Greater Cincinnati Lead Poisoning and Lead Prevention Status Report - Dec. 2002- by the Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati)
The Cincinnati Board of Health's Lead Advisory Committee, initiated in the 1990s, first worked to make Ohio lead regulations consistent with Federal guidelines. This was accomplished in 2004, with Ohio HB 248. Until HB 248, Ohio's regulations were so stringent that homeowners, landlords, property managers and realtors were unwilling to check for the presence of lead, or to accept financial liability for cleanup. Now federal and state regulations are consistent. Larger lead cleanup operations must be done by a licensed lead abatement contractor, but homeowners, landlords and property managers can do small scale lead cleanup themselves if they complete an 8-hour training course.
Since 2004, the primary emphasis of the Lead Advisory Committee has been training for childcare workers and parents of young children through education programs and workshops. The Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services has organized an effective collaborative to continue to address the childhood lead poisoning.
During the summer of 2006, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran an investigative report on the problem of local lead poisoning. In September, Cincinnati City Council finally approved a plan to eliminate childhood lead poisoning based on the Lead Advisory Committee's proposals. This plan could become a model for other communities. City Council also mandated that unattended lead work orders be turned over to the Housing Docket in the Hamilton County Court system. However, in November 2006 the Enquirer reported that out of 302 outstanding cases of lead-poisoned children whose homes were re-inspected, only 29 had been filed in court.
In 2006, the Department of Health doubled the number of Health Inspectors (to 4), prioritized inspections for children at risk and is working with a Task Force at City Hall to include lead hazard inspections in the Unified Building Code, which would allow Building & Inspections, Fire, and Health Department inspectors to write lead work orders, or at a minimum require notification of obvious lead hazards to the Health Department.
What can a parent, grandparent, resident or landlord do?
- Feed all children a healthy breakfast.
- Have young children tested for lead.
- Have young children wash hands often.
- Regularly wash toys and anything put in children's mouths.
- Have homes checked for lead levels in paint, water pipes and dust.
- Clean floors and windowsills frequently with soapy water.
- Take off shoes at the entrance to the home.
- Alert landlord of any cracked, peeling paint, indoors, on porches or exterior of the home. If the landlord does not respond appropriately, contact the Health Department.
- Complete lead-safe renovation training before undertaking old repairs, and acquire professional help to remove lead-based paint.
- Wash painted surfaces and work areas after repairs.
- Use window liners.
- Rehang doors to omit friction.
- Use a new coat of polyurethane on floors.
- Avoid carpeting in housing where residents cannot afford vacuum cleaners.
WHAT IS THE COST OF LEAD POISONING TO THE COMMUNITY?
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer June 25, 2006, "the City of Cincinnati has spent $176,800 over the past five years for relocation costs to move 272 families from lead-tainted apartments. The moves were made after children became lead poisoned."
The cost of lead hazard reduction or abatement is high, and a major deterrent to dealing with the problem. Most estimates are in the millions, which can make housing redevelopment prohibitively expensive for the private market. Who should pay? Some cities have low- or no-interest loans available to address the problem. Boston, Minneapolis, Baltimore and other cities have had long-standing lead reduction programs that should be investigated and perhaps replicated in Cincinnati.
Significant money is being spent for legal action against paint manufactures. Governor Strickland vetoed a law passed but not signed by Gov. Taft, which limited the liability of paint manufacturers to $5,000. Your tax dollars pay for Medicaid to treat lead-poisoned children, provide special education, attempted reeducation of unemployable high school dropouts and deal with the high levels of crime associated with untreated lead poisoning. Research has documented that if a 7-year old with lead poisoning is not treated, he/she will be in the juvenile justice system by age fifteen.
March 2007
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