Recent News about Toxic Lead:
Notes Toward a Preventive Strategy
Updated August 29, 2003
This paper is online with live links at http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=260 .
1) New Jersey is behind the times in controlling/preventing lead hazards:
New Jersey is behind the times in efforts to protect its children from exposure to toxic lead,
according to the Newark Star-Ledger. The Star-Ledger reports that NJ state law does not require
county health departments to investigation a child's home until lead is measured in the child's blood
at 20 ug/deciliter. Furthermore, the state health department does not even publicly report lead
exposures below 10 micrograms per deciliter because that is the official 'safe' dose of lead, even
though numerous studies have confirmed that harm can occur at level as low as 2 or even 1
microgram per deciliter. See http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=251
2) Low levels of lead cause reduced IQ, attention deficits, school dropout, delayed sexual
maturity, and violence:
New studies confirm that 'safe' lead exposures cause lower IQ, retarded sexual development,
attention deficits, school dropout, and aggressive and violent behavior. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=247 and
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=248 and
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=249 and
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=258
3) The official 'safe' level of lead is definitely not safe:
The so-called "safe" level of lead (10 ug/deciliter) reduces children's IQ. Studies now show
children being damaged at lead levels as low as 2 or even 1 ug/deciliter. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=250
4) Low levels of lead cause more brain damage than higher levels:
New studies find that lead causes proportionately more brain damage at levels below 10 ug/deciliter
than at higher levels. For example, 15 ug/deciliter can cause loss of 2 IQ points but 5 ug/deciliter
causes loss of 5 IQ points. (This upside-down-U-shaped dose-response curve has been observed
often with hormone-disrupting chemicals.) See the New York Times article at
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=246 . The Times articles is based on work published
in the New England Journal of Medicine, available at:
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=262 and
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=265
For a technical discussion of dose-response relationships, see, for example:
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=279
5) Higher levels of lead cause cancer and heart disease:
Recent studies show that workers exposed to 20 to 29 ug/deciliter of lead in blood have greatly
increased risk of heart disease (39% increase) and cancer (68% increase) with an overall mortality
increase of 46%. (The OSHA level of concern is 40 ug/dL.) This is the first study linking lead to
cancer. Another recent study has found a tentative link between lead and "essential tremor" in
adults whose blood lead levels were in the range of 2 to 3 ug/deciliter. Some 10 million adults in
the U.S. suffer from "essential tremor" and the cause is unknown. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=244 and
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=245
6) Paint Companies Knew Lead was Toxic More than 100 Years Ago
See this paint advertisement from 1897:
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=263
7) Paint is not the only source of lead hazards (toxic soil, too)
See http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=272
Some locales are getting aggressive about solving the lead problem:
8) Legal strategies:
A jury in Cleveland awarded $100,000 from a landlord to a lead-damaged tenant. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=252
A Kentucky jury awarded a lead-damaged boy $3.5 million. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=253
9) Municipal approaches:
Erie, Pa. is offering parents $15 in groceries if they get their children tested for lead regularly. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=254
Baltimore is offering legislators "toxic tours" of homes where children have been poisoned recently
by lead, plus homes that are being cleaned up. The goal is to make the issue "real" for legislators.
See http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=255
New York City is being very aggressive on lead, forcing landlords to confront and remediate the
problem. See http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=259
St. Louis has hired a lead activist to city government develop an aggressive policy on lead, to
protect their children. See http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=256
10) Some communities are applying the precautionary principle to PREVENT lead problems:
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Los Angeles will address lead concerns BEFORE children are poisoned. The City has incorporated
lead hazard inspections into routine housing code enforcement. See
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=257 . The text of the new Los Angeles law can be
found at http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=242 and a simple analysis of the law can be
found at http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=243 .
Now -- more than 100 years into the lead problem --perhaps we need a state-wide meeting to
talk about best practices for preventing lead exposures?
-- Peter Montague (peter@rachel.org); telephone 732-828-9995.
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Appendix A: Groups Active on Lead in New Jersey
Concerned Parents for Head Start
Concerned Parents for Head Start works to provide all families with lead education and provide
follow-ups for all children with elevated blood lead levels.
Contact(s): Linda Blackman
Address: 90 Martin Street
Paterson, NJ 07501 USA
Phone: (973) 345-9555
Fax: (973) 345-6719
E-mail: cphs90@aol.com
Interests: lead
==============================================================
Garden State Coalition for Youth and Family Concerns
The Garden State Coalition is a network of membership agencies and individuals providing a
common voice for runaway, homeless and vulnerable youth, and their families. The Coalition leads
in the facilitation and support of quality crisis intervention services in member organizations. To
reach this goal, the Coalition is committed to advocacy, networking, training and research.
Address: P.O. Box 290
Mount Holly, NJ 08060
USA
Phone: (609) 267-3811
Fax: (609) 267-3811
E-mail: mail@gardenstatecoalition.org
WWW: http://www.gardenstatecoalition.org
Interests: children / youth
==============================================================
Lead Poisoning Prevention Education and Training Program
Lead Poisoning Prevention Education and Training Program works to reduce lead poisoning by
reducing exposure to lead sources, developing educational campaigns that inform policy makers
and citizens about lead, and providing technical assistance to community groups and local agencies
that are implementing or planning lead education/action efforts.
Contact(s): Joan Cook Luckhardt
Address: 40 East Laurel Road, Suite 200
Stratford, NJ 08084 USA
Phone: (609) 566-6225
Fax: (609) 566-6202
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E-mail: jluckhardt@aol.com
Interests: lead
==============================================================
New Jersey Anti-Lead Poisoning Coalition
New Jersey Anti-Lead Poisoning Coalition is a grassroots organization that brings people together
who care about reducing lead in the environment and reducing the effects of lead poisoning on the
poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
Address: c/o Municipal Building, 574 Valley Street
Maplewood, NJ 07040-2691
USA
Phone: (973) 762-8120
Fax: (973) 762-1934
Interests: lead
==============================================================
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Jersey Citizen Action works to protect and expand the rights of individuals and families and to
ensure that government officials respond to the needs of people rather than the interests of those
with money and power. New Jersey Citizen Action advocates for the enforcement of New Jerseys
lead laws, enactment of stronger laws, and increased public financing for lead hazard controls.
Contact(s): John Weber
Address: 400 Main Street, 2nd floor
Hackensack, NJ 07601
USA
Phone: (201) 488-2804
Fax: (201) 488-1253
E-mail: Phyllis@njcitizenaction.org
WWW: http://www.njcitizenaction.org
Interests: community/labor organizing
occupational safety and health
lead
health - women's health
legal / laws / rights / agreements
money in politics
energy / electromagnetic radiation
==============================================================
South Jersey Lead Consortium
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South Jersey Lead Consortium shares information about lead issues, develops information for local
policy makers about the importance of lead screening and removing lead from the environment,
develops information to describe the nature of the lead problem in South Jersey, and develops
strategies for reducing lead in South Jersey.
Contact(s): Shelley Cohen - Director
Address: South Jersey Hospital-Newcomb,
65 South State Street
Vineland, NJ 08360
USA
Phone: (856) 507-7860
Fax: (856) 690-0824
E-mail: cohens@sjhs.com
WWW: http://www3.umdnj.edu/leadweb/sjlc.htm
Interests: lead
==============================================================
United Parents Against Lead (UPAL)
UPAL provides outreach, education and referral services to parents and all people concerned about
children with lead poisoning.
Contact(s): Sakinah Boyette
Address: 73 Hillcrest Terrace
East Orange, NJ 07018
USA
Phone: (973) 678-3749
Interests: lead
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