[homeles_ot-l] [US Housing] Stimulus takes on stubborn foe - lead in homes

[Kelly O'Grady]

Stimulus takes on stubborn foe — lead in homes

Mike Stuckey

 

ELKHART, Ind.— 

Anthony and Carolyn Hunt don’t know how many jobs a $3 million federal
stimulus grant to prevent lead poisoning in young children will bring to
their county, but to them that’s beside the point. 

Three years after learning that one of their four sons had dangerously high
levels of lead in his blood, the grant money will allow the Hunts to remove
some of the most serious sources of the metal from their four-square-style
home built in 1920. 

“This is a huge beast,” Anthony Hunt said of the hazard in his home and
millions of others across the country, the lingering result of lead-based
paint that was used widely until banned in 1978. “This is essentially an
unfunded mandate that ought to be handled on a national basis, period.” 

When President Obama came to Elkhart County in February to pitch his
stimulus plan, his main focus was on the 3 million to 4 million jobs he said
the $787 billion in federal spending would generate. But Obama highlighted
another goal of this money: It would support “jobs that meet the needs we’ve
neglected for far too long.” 

In places like Elkhart County, one of those jobs is removing lead hazards
from homes where children live. Lead poisoning in young kids can cause
everything from learning problems to violent behavior, and even death in
extreme cases. 

Thanks to the banning of lead paint and aggressive programs to remove
sources of the metal from the environment, the number of kids with elevated
levels of lead in their blood has fallen steeply over the past two decades.
But fully eradicating lead poisoning has proven difficult. With the federal
stimulus boosting the amount of money available for lead remediation by $78
million, child health advocates hope to make even more headway. 

“Without this funding, many cities and counties would not be able to provide
safe homes for children and families to thrive,” said Melanie Hudson,
executive director of the Children’s Health Forum, which focuses on fighting
childhood lead poisoning. “However, with sufficient resources, we can
eliminate childhood lead poisoning as a major public health problem for
good.” 



Anthony Hunt with his son Silas, who was diagnosed with dangerously high
levels of lead in his blood when he was 1 year old. Hunt had to rebuild the
porch because the wood was covered with lead-based paint. 

 

More


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33212238/ns/us_news-the_elkhart_project/ 

 

 

Kelly O’Grady, RN

Executive Director,

The First Six Years

219 Welland St.,
Pembroke, ON CANADA
K8A 5Y5
Tel: 613-735-0717
Fax: 613-732-2859

Email: lead at nrtco.net

Web:  <http://www.first6years.org/> www.first6years.org 

 

The First Six Years is a grass roots organization  whose primary mandate is
the promotion of optimal social, physical, and environmental conditions for
the development of healthy productive children.  We achieve this goal
through the use of  environmental monitoring and surveillance and public and
professional education.

 

We recognize that the first six years of a child’s life is an important
period of brain and nervous system development.  Childhood, extending from
the prenatal period to approximately age five years is a time of rapid
growth and development.  This makes children highly susceptible to the toxic
influences of environmental threats such as lead, mercury, PCBs, pesticides
and ionizing radiation.  

 

 

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