Loss of lead poisoning grant would affect our kids

Image, Portland (Ore.) Development Commission

Will the impending loss of a lead paint poisoning grant lead to a spike in cases among Plainfield children?

Possible.

The city has a grant to monitor children in the community affected by lead poisoning, which I am told it may soon lose.

Lead poisoning can result in neurological impairment and other health problems. Severe cases in children can result in mental retardation requiring institutionalization.

Children under 12 are the main victims in this country, and lead paint is the principal culprit.

When I was active in selling residential real estate, we were trained to caution any seller who lived in a home built before 1970 that the chances were very good that there was lead-based paint somewhere in the house.

Image, Wikipedia

Baseboards, windows, cabinets or doors painted white (lead was the most common ingredient in white paint at the time), were immediately suspect. But we were also warned that lead paints were also custom-tinted, so almost any color could actually be lead-based.

Of Plainfield's 16,180 dwelling units, 13,750 -- or 85% -- were built before 1970. This means there is a high likelihood of exposure to lead-based paints among our population, and especially among our children.

Paint chips are often ingested by small children

Not only is the ingestion of paint chips (the most likely scenario with small children) a danger, Plainfielders' interest in restoring old homes may also contribute inadvertently to the situation.

This is because applying heat -- as with a heat gun or paint-softening heat plate -- can volatilize the lead in the paint, releasing it directly into the room's atmosphere. (Real estate professionals are well aware of a case of lead poisoning in a Plainfield infant precisely because of exposure through home renovation activity.)

The grant in question funds the monitoring of children in the community who have already been affected by lead poisoning. Registered Nurses make outreach visits to monitor the affected children in their homes.

Former health inspector Randy Mascaritolo, who left the Health Division in March after many years of devoted service, was responsible for submitting the application for grant funding and monitoring compliance by the local health care workers who actually monitor the affected children.

Mascaritolo's position has been filled (he also supervised the annual restaurant/food license inspections and renewals), but I am told the new hire is not lead-certified. Hence the danger of losing this important grant.

Increasingly, it seems the staff disarray in the Robinson-Briggs administration is likely to endanger the lives and safety of residents.

In this case, our defenseless children.

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Resources/Further Reading:

CDC: "Lead Poisoning Prevention Program"
EPA: "Protect Your Child From Lead Poisoning"
NIH: "Medline Plus Health Topics: Lead Poisoning"
New Jersey Contact Info: "NJ Dept. of Health and Senior Services contacts"
NSC: "Lead Poisoning: What is it and who is affected?"
Wikipedia: "Lead poisoning"

-- Dan Damon

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