Document 7LRVoR9J0VBMXr2QzGz93oKj

More FederalFunds Urged for the Fight Against Lt l.tr Py HAROLD M. SCHMECK Jr; SFMaltrim New Terr Ttrota WASHINGTON. July 5--flic Administrallion has asked for M-mlllloti to- attack the pro blem dr lead poisoning mf chil dren, mtf-rrhsnrtmtcml that the sum is far too little to make an impact on * health hazard that may endanger as many as 400.000 children. . * The sum is less than New York City alone spends to help Among the most vocal op ponents of the Administra tion's policy on lead poisoning is Representative WUtiam F. Ryan, Democrat of Manhattan. He Ins criticized the Depart ment oflHealth, Education and Welfare 'for Its failure to nsk for any tmoney for the fiscal year 1971, He Ins also assailed the department for limiting its request for the fiscal year 19r2 to Khmllllon. Mr. Ryan called this amount "an affront" and said it costs $5.6-milllon a year to care for the several thousand chileken who suffer moderate fo severe damage from lead poisoning. He said that about 200 chil dren died each year from lead poisoning, while 800 others suf fered such severe brain damage that they must be cared for in institutions for the rest of their lives, at an annual cost of and Welfare would not have much effect on the problem, which probably exists to some degree fn every major Ameri can city. Mast communities have no organized programs to deal with the lead poisoning. / in New York City, which has one of the best of the few pro grams that do exist. Dr. Vin> cent Gtiinee, director of tM city Health Department's Ru reau of Lead Poisoning, sail control lead, which is primarily Mr. Ryan was the principal m million. bis program could easily use a hazard for young children in urban slums who eat chips of lead-based paint that flakes off the walls and woodwork of old apartments and houses. . No one knows why some children eat the paint chips, hut they <k>. particularly during (he summer, A few small chips a day. over a period of a few,, ttipnths, ran cause permanenift author of a'|dfl signed, into law by President Nixon last January that authorized $25-mDlion to help curb Icad poisoning In the next fiscal year^ The Administration has asked for an appropriation of only J2-miIllon of these filing noting that, with other money licegdy requested, this would bring Inc total effort to a level of about fn testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee recently. Dr. Edmund O. Roths child of the Memorial SloanKcttering Cancer Center called the Administration request "ob scene" and an "act of murder by neglect" Other spccfflistcBave mainttrtB the tmuunt of money requested by the De extra Iz-million. Others Doubtful, Too The city now spends aboi $22-milllan just, for case-fine)-' tug and, inspection. Dr. Gulm " Specialists in other citU< also expressed doubts that I S2-rnU!lon Federal progrslf would go very far In helping |c bridn damage or death. t2.2-m!!llon. partment of Health, Education solve the problem. ({; To Ban Sale of Funds for Victims^ Leaded Paint Of Lead Poisoning. Use Is Blamed Asked of Senators In the Poisoning ;tfi~ i A ,.- , ; WASHINGTON.'July |3<A$ Of Many Children --A Senate panel was |<>M t,,' Washington Slar (lay that the Nixon Admlnistra Washingon--Six citizens to. dHMimiobnoVd refjeJct,eed laJr:ercomme.Sn d.iy rreeqquueesstteedd tthhee FFoooodd aanndd specialists to? i^Sa^mSi DwB AdTMnislr,km ' ,ar' "''l year against chlldhoot UtUlhn sale and use of all ad poisoning, i (frnd-Msed tfafRCSpeHeved to Senator Edwanl M. Kennedy DehmmnoMcrwaft ooff *h4ii_s_s__n_e_h_u__se.t.t*s, and Represented* Wjlliam t. Sic^ttsponsible for\pdwonin^ 250,000 to 400,000 children an* J?}?* Ucmocrat dr New York, BU*j the Sena11 AppropriaS *'1 iteration ji lti Jr- t wS'iirr l0.inc!utl' tot*"* *" lead-rfsed paint hy P"**0"1"* lay tf<rating the poisoning rathrr/than the S2- w*,,s nf Ike IilWs/and IMOs,' million proposal by president Iheir petition sab '^nrrtrlZcMiltouS%!,,n. "The generation that thitst cation and Wntlare had'been I"?!*** 1 )cw Unborn, It overruled last spring when thev *a,d` I recommended a major Govern- > 1*19. confilmed rases ol meet effort to aid the estimated paint-induced rad poisoning 400.000 young victims of lead totaled 122 in I Philadelphia, ptnwining. - -08 in New Y*k and (67 in ST'!SrPl rs6Sm1ilcs Chicago. } nrim'* to^dKIa^lSS* ,"..yfar - 7 he pcUtbwjre are Joseph comfact lead ^N^mL^in* A- fW.n 4uriaie protes- esting*niKd,{!S!CmWj ms I T,*,',h*Jf'Tr'T!i Univer- are trealod. Some 200`die and rity Law Center; Anthony L. (.000 suffer brain damage. Yl owunii*|; annudu Mfvis,sriYj 0v'Bv irilvehn-i h*a>* Meanwhile, in another devcl- students "n*t Georgetown; Rep. opnient Hie Food end Drag Ad- Wiliam F. Ryan (D-NY); ministration said that (he dec Jack Ncwfield, n Neiv York orations on reremic' dinner- freelance writer and Dr. Ed ware, in adBlllon to the dinner- mund O. Roihschieid. t New ware a glaze, could he a source or poisnnoits lend and cadmium absorbed hy foods and bever ages. "The decal presents n spe cial, newly recognized problem, affecting ail types of dinnerware on which it is used," the agency said. York physician. Their petition refers to "pica," n little-understood phenomenon that affects chil dren aged I to *. Pica pro duces a ehrvlag to eat non food substances--even among well-fed youngsters. The agency said that under flint condition, coupled with norms! conditions such dinner* ware presented no health Jui2~ *ra. But it advised consumers not tow sBtIoUrIUe aSlcWidimicv fIUood or ben erage* in dinnerware. Listed as examples of acidic substances that can leach--dis solve out--heavy metals from glaze or deenbi were! fruit juices, carbonated beverages, wines. eJiler. all foods contain the traditions! use of lead as a base tor paints used on household interion, is be lieved to be responsible for the deaths of approximately 200 children n year, most of them between the ages of 1 and 3. In (hose cases where death or brain damage Is prevent ing vinegar, sauerkraut, cooked ed. youngsters often suffer (rails and fruit products. from anemia, convulsions, kidney damage, paralysis or muscular impairment. sad Poisoning in Children Dr. Jesse L. Slcinfctd. the covering still exists in low-in Surgeon General, said last fall come housing. that estimates of the number of The amount of Federal children in the United States money to be spent on the prob with dangerous blood levels of lem during the next fiscal year lead range as high ns 400,000. is now under consideration by Municipalities that have con ducted lead-screening studies the Labor and Health Subcom mittee of the House Appropria have normally found elevated tions Committee. A bill is ex blood levels in $ to 10 per cent of the children tested, tie added. pected month. to be reported out this The problem of lead poison In n letter to Mr. Ryan n few ing Is limited almost entirely weeks ago, Elliot L. Richard- to.children between the ages of son. Secretary of Health, Edu i and 6. The main public health cation and Welfare, said the solution to.it nt present are S2-mil!lon request "signifies the screening programs to. find and Administration's clear intent to [treat children who havi tl? mount.,a concerted effort to jcesslve blood levels of lead, eliminate tho.tiireat of lead- land cleanup programs to re based paint." "X move or cover the lead-based When asked recently what paint that causes the danger. could be done with that amount Since World War IL lead-based of money, an officer In the de Eaint for the interior of homes partment who is directly in as been replaced by lead-free volved in the Federal effort re paint, but much of the oldplied; 'Not a great desk really." N39131 Ryan Says US. to Test Paint for Lead Content (urn--The Federal Govern- ' ment will soon begin analyz ing nboul 8.000 brands of paint and publicly diclose .which can cause toad poison ing, ^Jprcscnl.'iUunJtti'liam F. Rydri, Democrat of Manhat tan. said today. At the same time Mr. Ry-' an said that a New York City testing pricram had identi fied 16 patits so far as ex ceeding thalcsd danger level. paints /containing more than I pet cent lead are gen erally coroidcrcd In be poten tially dayserous, especially to cblltfrcn/who. over n period of time/ acquire lead poison ing by mating rhins of paint ' that fill from walls and ceiltogs. I