Getting the lead out : the complete resource on how to prevent and cope with lead poisoning

Lead poisoning is one of the oldest diseases known to humankind, occurring from the time humans learned to smelt and use lead, at least 5000 years ago. The disease was recognized and described by ancient Egyptian and Greek physicians and was so widespread during the Roman civilization that more than one scholar has suggested that it significantly weakened that society and may have led to its downfall. During the medieval history of Europe, there occurred outbreaks of lead "colic" (so named for the striking abdominal pain symptomatic of adult lead poisoning) often in association with poor wine vintages, as lead was commonly used in those times to "doctor" sour wine and restore a sweet taste. The practice was so common and known to be detrimental to those who drank the wine that it was banned in the Holy Roman Empire. In colonial America, lead was known to cause disease in printers and rum distillers, and was famous for causing "cider colic," a condition produced by drinking cider stored in pewter vessels from which lead "leached" in large amounts. Benjamin Franklin spoke of it in his correspondence with Dr. Benjamin Rush, a noted physician of the time. Lead was first introduced as a pigment or paint early in the nineteenth century. Because lead ore in the Midwestern United States was so pure, America soon became the lead supplier to the world for this purpose, building a large and influential lead industry. By 1975, virtually every new home built in the northeastern quadrant of the United States received a coat oflead paint, which was really lead oxide suspended in linseed oil, known as "lead-in-oil." Pigments VII VIII GETTING THE LEAD OUT were added, and this product became famous for providing durable, mildew-resistant surfaces. Because of the property of lead pigments to "chalk," and therefore provide an endlessly renewable surface, they were also noted for the brightness of color they produced. Even today, lead chromate is the constituent of the yellow paint that marks curbstones, fire hydrants, and highway guidelines. Sadly, little did anyone realize at the time that, in addition to flaking and peeling, the chalking of lead paint would produce deadly layers of lead chips and dust inside painted homes. Although the adult form of lead poisoning was already well known, the first cases of childhood lead poisoning as we know it were described in 1897 by an Australian eye physician by the name of Turner. He recognized a group of cases of optic neuritis (inflammation of the nerve that leads from the eye to the brain) in a group of children from Queensland, Australia. Over the next decade, there appeared a flurry of scientific articles confirming this observation, recognizing it as due to lead and attributing it to the habit of chewing on porch railings from the verandas of Queensland homes! Thus, the entire pattern of childhood lead poisoning was fully described and published by 1905. Why then, you must certainly ask, was the use oflead paint not banned when its dangers to children were now known? It was prohibited in Europe and Canada but not in the United States. By 1918, sufficient reports had appeared in America and Europe to persuade authorities in Belgium, France, and Germany, as well as in Canada, to restrict the concentration of lead paint to 5% lead by weight. This contrasted with American paint that sometimes contained ten times that much! As a result, while the Europeans and Canadians have not escaped unscathed, they have fared far better than us and our English counterparts who have been slow to recognize this danger. Lead paint was not finally regulated in this country until 1970 in Massachusetts and 1978 nationally by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Application of this paint to American homes continued from 1875 until about 1950 when, purely for economic reasons, the paint companies began to replace lead with titanium. Our best available data tells us that as a result more than 60 million homes in the United States contain potentially dangerous amounts of lead. The dilemma of reducing this danger lies in the fact that lead paint is most hazardous when the surface is disrupted; yet we cannot remove it without disrupting it. And, as the late Dr. Randolph Byers remarked to me over lunch one day when we were struggling to have the Massachusetts Lead Poisoning Prevention Act enacted into law, "Once you remove it, where are you going to put it?" Ms. Kessel and Mr. O'Connor have done an admirable job of condensing into a relatively short book a large amount of basic information about childhood lead poisoning. Interspersed with case histories, they have outlined in a straightforward language the full dimensions of the problem facing our country. The remarkable fact that lead was removed from gasoline in 1978 had an unexpected but substantial impact on average lead levels around the country. That, plus the efforts of hundreds of thousands of concerned parents, health workers, housing advocates, and others throughout our communities in forcing the government to attack the problem in all its forms including toys, food, water, and industry has resulted in a significant reduction in the frequency with which we now see this problem compared to in 1970. Then, fully 25% of the preschool children living in the area surrounding Boston's Children Hospital had lead levels Foreword high enough to warrant treatment by the then criteria, which were twice as high as they are today. The same was true or worse in many of the industrialized cities in the United States. So we've come a long way but not far enough. Much remains to be done and the price of any relaxation of safeguards will be the intellectual function of future generations. Our thanks to Ms. Kessel and Mr. O'Connor for this effort. It all helps. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction....Pages 1-4 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 Lead Poisoning: A Background....Pages 7-14 The Sources of Lead Poisoning....Pages 15-23 Front Matter....Pages 25-25 Basic Prevention....Pages 27-32 Diagnosing Lead Poisoning....Pages 33-40 Front Matter....Pages 41-41 Environmental Investigation and Intervention....Pages 43-52 Nutrition and Lead Poisoning....Pages 53-57 Medical Evaluation and Treatment....Pages 58-66 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Getting Appropriate Educational Services....Pages 69-75 The Psychosocial Impacts of Lead Poisoning....Pages 76-84 Front Matter....Pages 85-85 Lead in Paint and Dust....Pages 87-93 Identifying Lead Paint Hazards....Pages 94-102 Preparing for Lead Paint Hazard Control....Pages 103-113 Lead Paint Hazard Control Measures....Pages 114-125 Front Matter....Pages 127-127 Lead in Soil....Pages 129-134 Lead in Food....Pages 135-140 Lead in Drinking Water....Pages 141-152 Front Matter....Pages 153-153 Suing for Personal Injury....Pages 155-164 Community Organizing....Pages 165-176 Public Policy....Pages 177-184 Back Matter....Pages 185-272 Between one and a half to two million children under the age of six--one out of eleven American preschoolers--have elevated levels of lead in their blood, a condition that can cause damage to their developing brains, resulting in learning disabilities, behavior problems, and decreased IQs. A severe problem that affects not only children from our poorest neighborhoods but also those from many middle- and upper-income families, lead poisoning is most often caused by the lead-based paint that is present on walls, woodwork and facades of 75% of all American homes built before 1989--57 million US home and apartments. "Getting the Lead Out: The Complete Resource on How to Prevent and Cope with Lead Poisoning" is the first comprehensive, action-oriented book on this compelling health issue. It defines and elaborates on the major sources of lead in the home and environment, medical concerns, prevention strategies, and techniques for controlling lead hazards, while offering advice to parents and homeowners on where to turn should their children--or home--be found to have high lead levels. Whether your apartment is inadequately maintained by your landlord or you are restoring your own beautiful period home, your child may be at risk. Fortunately, lead poisoning is preventable, if you know what to look for.

"...lead poisoning has been a top health concern for parents during the past decade, and this book addresses proactive methods for controlling and preventing lead hazards...also explains the health problems lead poisoning can cause."