The lead poisoning of children is a silent epidemic in this society. If terrorists were poisoning babies and creating brain damage among thousands of our babies, we'd invade a few countries that were not involved. But childhood lead poisoning is doing just that.
This is an issue you don't hear much about. Barack Obama has long fought for our children against the scourge of childhood lead poisoning.
"As both a father of two young daughters and a lawmaker, it pains me to think that each year nearly 28,000 children needlessly suffer from lead-paint poisoning," said Obama. "We need to take immediate action to protect our children by ensuring that dangerous lead-paint is cleaned up properly."
More after the fold.
There is no safe level of lead.
Lead poisoning causes brain damage to children. Lead poisoning causes decreased intelligence. New research shows a loss of 7 IQ points before a child’s lead level is high enough to officially be considered "poisoned". Most of the damage occurs to babies and children under 6.
Lead poisoning is also linked to behavioral disorders, hyperactivity, and growth problems. At higher levels it can cause kidney problems, seizures, coma and death.
Health and Environmental Justice - St. Louis
A 2003 Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed IQ loss of as much as 7 points BEFORE children reached the ten micrograms per decileter level that is offically poisoned under federal guidelines.
"We were surprised to find that in our study the IQ scores of children who had blood lead levels of 10 micrograms per deciliter were about 7 points lower than for children with levels of 1 microgram per deciliter," Canfield said.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2003)
That's right. Up to 7 IQ points, before they are officially poisoned. In America, we have allowed this to go on for far too long. Senator Obama knows that and has fought for our babies.
Since coming to Washington, Senator Obama has made the elimination of childhood lead poisoning one of his top priorities.
Over 400,000 children in the U.S. suffer from lead poisoning.
Lead is a highly toxic substance that can produce a range of health problems in young children including IQ deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, reduced attention spans, hyperactivity, and damage to the kidneys, brain and bone marrow.
obama.senate.gov
Before 1970, a child was officially lead poisoned if his blood level was greater than 60 micrograms per deciliter. The threshold has been reduced over the years and now 10 micrograms per deciliter is the official rate, but that's not low enough. In 2003, a study verified what researchers had feared: lead was harmful to brains of young children even at very low blood concentrations, concentrations considered to be safe.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2003) — A new study suggests that lead may be harmful even at very low blood concentrations. The study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, will appear in the April 17 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.
The five-year study found that children who have blood lead concentration lower than 10 micrograms per deciliter suffer intellectual impairment from the exposure. The researchers also discovered that the amount of impairment attributed to lead was most pronounced at lower levels. The study was carried out by researchers from Cornell University, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
An important feature of this new study is its focus on children with blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per deciliter, a threshold currently used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to define an elevated lead level. Previous research has been concerned primarily with lead's effects in the 10 to 30 micrograms per deciliter range, yet the new study finds lead-related impairments at lower levels
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2003)
The largest source of lead poisoning is from lead paint dust, especially on windows or in window wells. Babies get microscopic amounts of dust on their fingers and put it into their mouths when they put their fingers in their mouths. It's not eating paint chips, at least not very often. It's microscopic dust.
Most Common Sources of Lead Poisoning:
Deteriorating lead-based paint
Lead contaminated dust
Lead contaminated residential soil
EPA
Children don’t have to suffer. Lead poisoning is 100% preventable. Many paints manufactured before 1978 contained lead. When aging lead paint is rubbed between parts of a window, or falls off from flaking paint, it becomes dust. When this dust is ingested or inhaled it causes lead poisoning. If paint is scraped without proper precautions it can worsen the problem. If the lead is correctly removed from the house or covered up then a child will not be poisoned.
Health and Environmental Justice - St. Louis
Senator Obama has fought lead poisoning on several fronts since he was elected to the Senate. First, he forced the EPA to do its job:
During his first year in office, Senator Obama successfully fought to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish long-overdue rules for how contractors involved in the renovation and remodeling of homes should deal with lead paint hazards. To force the EPA to issue the rules, Senator Obama threatened to block the confirmation of an EPA official and passed an amendment to stop the EPA from delaying the rulemaking process. When the rules are eventually finalized, they will prevent 28,000 lead-related illnesses each year, resulting in an annual net economic benefit of more than $4 billion.
obama.senate.gov
Then, in 2005, along with several other Senators, Obama took the lead on real lead remediation in this nation. He introduced legislation providing a tax credit for safely removing lead-based paint hazards from homes and rental units. The bill would provide incentives for property owners to ensure that homes are free of lead hazards that can harm children. obama.senate.gov
Obama "also sponsored the 2005 Lead Free Toys Act, and the 2006 Lead Poisoning Reduction Act, and cosponsored the 2005 Home Lead Safety Tax Credit, all of which never made it out of committee." Know your vote
Even during this presidential campaign, Obama has worked on this issue, this time addressing lead poisoning in child care centers:
Senator Obama and Rep. Slaughter Introduce Legislation to Protect Children from Lead Poisoning
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
14 Percent of child care facilities contain toxic lead
U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and Representative Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28) today introduced legislation in the Senate and House respectively to protect children from lead poisoning.
The Lead Poisoning Reduction Act requires that all non-home-based child care facilities, including Head Start program locations and kindergarten classrooms, be lead-safe within five years. The bill also would establish a five-year, $42.6 million grant program to help local communities pay to make these facilities safe, and set up "best practices" standards for communities to test for and reduce lead hazards.
"Lead poisoning continues to pose an enormous threat to our children’s health and safety in day care facilities and schools in Illinois and across America," said Senator Obama. "The Lead Poisoning Reduction Act requires all child care facilities to be certified lead-safe within five years. The Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed key parts of this proposal with a rule that would require mandatory lead-safety training and certification of our schools’ contractors. We must act on these basic precautions to keep our children healthy and our schools lead-free."
Senator Obama and Rep. Slaughter Introduce Legislation to Protect Children from Lead Poisoning
Lead is also present in many children's products. In 2003 and 2004, nearly 150 million pieces of toy jewelry were recalled because of toxic levels of lead. To address this problem, Senator Obama introduced the Lead-Free Toys Act to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban any children's product containing lead. In March 2008, the Senate passed a bill banning lead in all children's products - a ban that is similar to Senator Obama's proposal. The bill passed by the Senate also includes an Obama provision requiring that all recall notices contain standard information, which will help parents make better decisions to protect their children.
obama.senate.gov
As I said, you don't hear much about this issue, but it matters. There is no safe amount of lead. Barack Obama understands this. As his record shows, when he is elected President, Barack Obama will not forget the babies who suffer from this scourge. He will Get the Lead Out!! We can count on that.