Document BvZznY7dr8GeNe9LjXRo8ZxvJ

National $aint, Harnish anft arqurr Association OFFICERS prcsi ocnt E.OWM0 A. rOY. CINCINNATI vice Mtnoewr - . A. HALM. DCS UINC| EXECUTIVE VICE MHIJ.DCMT*0*ET A. ROLANS. WASHINGTON TR CA S U CR Ralph j. baucmuin, rockforo secretary -- ALLAN W GA'nES. WASHINGTON FIELD SECRETARY .'AMO N. Ei-UOTT. WASHINGTON incorporated 1300 RHODE ISLAND AVE.. N W.. WASHINGTON O C 20003 PHON E' 2C2A62 6272 REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS "CW ENG LAN O - HARRY A. NALL III. EVERETT CASTCKH - ECWARD N WALWORTH, JR., n D* YORK cast ccntral -jCHN m ?nchai. Louisville WEST CENTRAL - A*S*CW CSSCR. M'LWAUKtl SOUTHERN - JAMES L_ SCAUCHAMR, ATLANTA SOUTHWESTERN - IVAN J NiCOOCMUt. OALLAS WESTERN - C. O LAI GH, SAN FRANC! SCO Mcy 12, 1970 To Members'of the NPVLA Lead Paint Scfety Committee: Enclosed is a copy of an article entitled, "Lead Poison Worst Ever cf 260 Cases", which eppearea in today's New York Times. In Mr. Brown's absence, 1 cm forwarding copies of this article for your information. Sincerely, // tlw-vl/ Feme M. Horner, Secretory to Royal A. Brown, Technical Director Enclosure PROGRESS THROUGH COOPERATIO.. S-W 001817 N 4186 r.vr A'vv r:::cs. y. 7;;;$ sad Poison Even the \Vc!.'.-ed Do It symptoms may appear :rs:d-i iousiy or s.uaar.iy. The child.i Department was detect:.-; Pad Studies htve shown that hoi-' whese gums .v.av become blue- in about one-half of the .-.sm.es well-fed children eat may lose his appetite for fooc.i of children suffering from lot.; Worst Ever t..:ngs like paint, clay, plaster, vomit, become lets alert ardj poisoning. In the otr.er ha.;. Dr.; dirt, matches, cigarette butts more irr.tab.e, have temper tan-' Gurnee said, sampling prsce-, or cravens that are rot food. trams, or develop a clumsy. durcs may have missed the> Doctors* wca-ail t.hr.i;s ;li;t;t:l;e-uracr- a a v.-alk. The child m.a'v hidden lead pair.t. or the fam- at 2o0 Cases: ??*?.*OCA O' ^ , ?:oo<: phenomenon pica. In zoo- com.;'.';.-, of vague abcomira'i ;ily may have fa.led to reveal; us con- poms, which cm become so :'other homes that the child v;s-i ; ------"2_ -re mmaaggppiieess,, wwrhich are severe that he doubles uo from ited. Mothers who work while- Dy LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN i cnir.;vorou$. Physicians have reported 223 Though pica usually begins about age I and disappears by- eases of lead poisoning in chil age 5. the American Academy spasm, cf the bowel. This'svm.p- tem, coiled "lead colic," has fooled doctors into unnecessary turgtry such as appendecto ion welfare are reticent to re-, iveal this information ccsn::e: kite Health Department's guar-! 'ar.tccs of confidentiality, dren to the New York City of Pediatrics says that "as many mies. i Next month, the Health De-i Health Department during the first four months of this year *-- more than for any other comparable period. as 50 per cent of mothers of children with pica also have jtca themselves." 3ecause '-he intestine can Ibsorb only small amounts of Lead can cause tmy hemor rhages in the brain leading to convulsions and coma. The metal may alto interfere with functioning cf nerves in the ipartment plans to begin using, >a portable model of a rewj lead-detecting machine that; ,New York University's depart-! '.m.ent of environmental nee:-; Health officials attribute the lead a: any one time, ingestion rise in reports to recent in creased interest on the part ofi medical and community leaders cn this old m.edicr.'-socia! prob lem. This interest led to a release of city funds allowing the Health Department to test more blood specimens for lead, thereby detecting earlier this preventable disease of the' home environment. Health officials suspect that the higher total represents just c small fraction of the leadpoisoning cases here. "Our calculations indicate that there are abut 8.003 cases here," said Dr. Vincent r. of tiny amounts of lead over a arm tnd leg. causing a oara'.v- long time can pe more danger ous than eating a larger amount sis called wrist or foot drop.' . Doctors war.: to detect lead Cnee. Doctors suspect a chiid1 poisoning as early as possible must eat lead chips for about to prevent, rather than treat, three months before symptoms! these symptoms. That is why of plumbism -- from the Latin- the Health Department go; an for lead poisoning--develop, j infusion of $1.2-mi!!ion earlier Once absorbed, lead can af-i this year to step up. its iead-l feet almost every system of, prevention program. 1 the body. Most of the heavy Action begins when the; metal is stored in bones, and Health Department receives a appears as opaque white lines, report of a case of lead poison at the end of the w-rist and knce| ing. either from a practicing bones on X-rays of children; physician or from a blood test with severe lead poisoning. performed at the department's Because lead interferes with laboratories. The most reliable method, Dr.' Guir.ee, head of the city's lead prevention program, in an ir. terview. Dr. Guir.ee elaborated Dcpor.'ed Cases of Lee a' Poisoning New York City Gurnee said, is a laboratorytost performed by a process called atomic-absorption spec-, as follows on some of the statis tephotometry. The Health De tics on eases of icad poisoning partment considers abnormal a! ir. recent years: blood iead level of SO micro- ^Ninety-three per cent of the grams or higher. (A m.icrogram lead poisonings occurred among is one-thousandth of a gram.) children 1 to 4 years of age. fj____ !i;|_ | Some doctors had hoped that cAlthough SS per cent of One the ALA (for delta amino levu- cine developed with funds from; 'the city's Health Research! ;Council. It is hoped that this, .device w-i'.l enable an inspector! ito survey an entire housings .unit without removing aryi paint chips and to increase thei accuracy of detecting leadj paint ir. homes. ; ' cases were among chil dren from black and Spanish- iir.te acid) would be the easiest speaking families, youngsters from these groups made uo less than half the city's population for that age range. SThe 72? cases in I9S9 were the highest recorded in the city's history, but the two deaths were the fewest in the last decade, -r.e most deaths from lead poisoning were the w 'W -'J-l'-M VM'i .-r:j ii it i;i. '42 '44 '44 '4S 70 screening test for lead-poison- ir.z cases. : T.te ALA urine test Dr. Gui- inee saic, is unreliable. A Health iDepartment study, supported :'ay results of similar ones c'or.e 'ir. Chicago ar.d Baltimore, found that the urir.e test false ly diagnosed lead poisoning in 19 in I960. *Ttvj!i4srn30 about 30 per cent of children None of the 1570 cases re without the disease and failed ported thus far were fatal. High rates among young children reflect the fact that they eat the lead paint peel ing off the indoor walls of hemes built before '.Vorld War II. Though covered with sewer! layers, the original lead pair.tj remains on wails in many older] homes In poverty areas of Ncwi. York and other American cities.| Since World War II. laws C'.ere and elsewhere in the coun try have prohibited the use of lead paint indoors. Some out door paints still contain lead. the body's manufacture of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carry ing protein in red blood ceils, large amounts of lead cause anemia, a deficiency of such cells. When doctors look through e microscope et stained specimens of blood ar.d see blue specks on the red ceiis they may suspect iead poison-: -I to detect about one-third of true lead-poisoning cases. | After receiving a report of a 'positive lead test, a Health Do- partmert reoresentative takes samples of wall paint where, the youngster lives. | i If ar.y of .these samples is- Positive for lead, the Health Dopartman: orders the landlord to begin removing the iead source -.'-.thin five days. If the- landlord fails to comply, as. has happened about half the ttme. the city's Emergency Re-, pair Program does vhe work! . ar.d bills the landlord. \ S-W 001813 Dr. C-uinee said the Health! N 4186.01