Document ekX9aOymnZqGQ6Jy647Ggqmy

Lead Industries Association, Inc. 292 Madison Avenue - New York, N. Y. 10017 Telephone: (212) 532-2373 Environmental Health Department March 30, 1973 To: The Members of the Lead Industries Association, From: Jerome F. Cole, Sc.D. Subject: Sources of Childhood T.pgd Poisoning Gentlemen: As you know, there has been a great deal of effort recently among environmentalists attempting to relate elevated lead levels in children to environmental exposures such as lead in air and lead in dirt. Many products containing lead have also come under attack as potential contributions to pediatric lead poisoning. Examples would be lead alkyl antiknock additives, lead foil Christmas tree icicles, printing ink pigments, etc. It is, therefore, particularly revealing to note in the enclosed document, "Childhood Lead Poisoning - A Summary Report of a Survey for Undue Lead Absorption and Lead Based Paint Hazard in 27 Cities," that the U.S. Public Health Service found in 95% of the 999 homes tested, at least one accessible paint surface containing relatively high concentrations of lead. There is no doubt that high lead levels in old paint in poor communities constitute a public health threat. However, we should recognize old lead paint as the true source. Efforts should be made to attack this source and eliminate it. If this could be accomplished, elevated blood lead levels in children and pediatric lead poisoning would be very rare. Sincerely, Director, Environmental Health Enclosure sw LIA-77027 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE HEALTH SERVICES AIJD MENTAL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION N 803.01 CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING A SUMMARY REPORT OF A SURVEY FOR UNDUE LEAD ABSORPTION AND LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD IN 27 CITIES DHEW Publication No. (HSM) 73-10002 i \ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION,AND WELFARE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE HEALTH SERVICES AND MENTAL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION BUREAU OF COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DIVISION OF COMMUNITY INJURY CONTROL CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING CONTROL BRANCH CINCINNATI, OHIO 1+5202 SEPTEMBER, 1972 LIA-77029 THE BCEM CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING SURVEY ; A Summary Report The Bureau of Community Environmental Management conducted smallscale neighborhood surveys in 27 cities during the summer, fall and winter of 1971-1972 to screen young children aged 1 to 6 years who were living in pre-19U9, sub-standard housing. The purpose of these surveys was to obtain some assessment of the occurrence of elevated blood lead levels in children in the specific neighborhoods of the cities surveyed and to determine the presence and availability to children of lead-based paint in their dwellings. Only cities that were not conducting a program at the time and which represented a national geographic distribution were selected. These included cities in the Midwest, South, West, North, and East which did not have the resources, or the level of suspicion, or the technical expertise to look for childhood lead poisoning. Each child was initially tested by a micro analytical technique capable of analyzing a small sample of blood (one-tenth of a milliliter) by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV). The ASV technique is an electrochemical procedure in which, after acid digestion of the blood sample, the lead ion is plated by negative voltage/to the electrode. By rapidly reversing the polarity, the lead is stripped off, giving a current peak proportional to the concentration. Five to ten percent of the children randomly selected had a lOcc heparinized venipuncture drawn and analyzed by a macro atomic absorption spectroscopic or dithizone technique. LIA-77031 : ' . . : \ If exterior surfaces were included, over 95% of the houses tested had at least one accessible surface with hazardous amounts of lead. (Table III) To date, as a direct result of the survey, at least 30 children have been treated by chelation. An additional 13 children are known to have been diagnosed as having lead poisoning and treated by chelation as an indirect result of the survey. These cases have been attributed to an increased level of suspicion by parents and physicians as a result of publicity associated with the survey activity in the community. Also, 30 families have had the sources of lead-based paint made unavailable to children by renovation or relocation as a direct result of the survey. The communities have been advised to continue surveillance of the other l8l children having blood lead levels above 1+0 ug/100 ml. 3- - LIA-77033 L IA -7703 5 CITY Chester, Pa Des Moines, Iowa San Antonio, Tex. Trenton, N. J. Nashua, N. H. Denver, Col. Nashville, Tenn. Pasadena, Ca. Toledo, Ohio Sacramento, Ca. Portland, Ore. Wilmington, Del. Spokane, Wash. Lexington, Ky. Table II SELECTED DATA ON CHILDREN SCREENED AND WITH CONFIRMED ELEVATED BLOOD LEADS BY CITY NUMBER SCREENED NUMBER ASV >- 40 ug 58 64 57 ' 52 92 73 95 46 118 78 82 89 75 66 14 16 4 11 25 9 5 25 15 12 3 40 0 13 NUMBER AAS TOTAL1 1 4 2 6 17 12 12 27 17 l4 . 6 4i -- 12 NUMBER AAS > 40 ug AAS 40 ug % CONFIRMED 1 1.7 3 4.7 00 3 5-8 5 5-4 4 5.5 1 1.0 1 2.0 4 3.4 6 7-7 1 1.2 24 27.0 ---- 3 4.5 CITY Table III HOMES WITH POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS LEAD CONCENTRATIONS (AT LEAST ONE ACCESSIBLE INTERIOR SURFACE ^ 2 MG/CM2 by X-R-F ANALYSIS) HOMES TESTED WITH SURFACE PERCENT ___________________________________ 2 MG/CM2 Indianapolis Wichita Portland Lexington Nashua Denver Des Moines Charleston Dayton Nashville San Antonio Chester Binghampton Albuquerque Trenton Toledo Pensacola Pasadena Sacramento Wilmington Salt Lake City Hoboken Spokane Stamford Flint Harrisburg Tulsa TOTALS 43 29 37 19 60 52 22 39 30 58 31 39 24 . T5 37 60 33 1+9 37 25 36 20 1+2 32 30 ' 51 49 999 38 ll+ 34 15 33 1+8 18 26 22 43 l6 29 19 11 30 54 16 37 21 16 27 20 35 ' 25 18 40 25 730 ' 88.4 48.3 91.9 78.9 55-0 92.3 81.8 66.7 73.3 74.1 51.6 74.4 79-2 73.3 81.1 90.0 48.5 75-5 56.8 84.0 75.0 100.0 83.3 78.1 60.0 78.4 51.0 73.1 LIA-77037 LIA-77038