Document jBLgNaJ8bXX51DR9dOYxky0Zk

Drive to Stop^ead Poisoning Begins 16-- NANCY HICKS built before World War I! been reported annually. That s ms s awerBased on * new public probably have lead paint on n"nber rose to 304 In 1866. as awareness, a fragmented but growing '..movement to eradi- haw been called overwhelm- child w]th m, elevated cate JcaAnoisotiingJtos atmihiTUieluilliTry begun tngly "unrealistic." ^Because enow symptoms are to nonspecific--vomiting, lead-blood level is detoxified and bis house is "defeaded" to eliminate the source of the Over the last pear. Interest nausea, crankiness, general poisoning. So far this year, in the disorder, often called malaise--cases are often mis- there have been only 19 cases the silent epidemic,'' has diagnosed. reported in Baltimore, end the caught on in the.medical pro <1Detecting an Inordinate first death In three years oe- fession and in the social build-up of lead hi children's curred last month, service and community action bodies has been difficult The The Baltimore situation is movements. urine test, which has been now pretty much under control, No one is certain Just bow used most widely throughout according to Dr. J. Julian serious the lead poisoning the years, has been discredit- Chisolm Jr,, the assistant chief problem is. Although estimates fd by many doctors as only 70 of pediatrics of Baltimore City run ns high ns 225,000 children per cent accurate. Most large Hospital and an associate proinltir:idled annually, only six clinic* have switched to test- lessor of pediatrics at Johns major rilirs and seven states ing blood samples, but collect- Hopkins Medical School. Dr. keep statistics. "If you live in ing a specimen half the size of Chisolm is one of the nation's a...n....A..m.. .e..r.i.c..a..n. cit,y w__i_th__a__a_lu__ma shot of whisky from small leading authorities on the prob- pnnulntion. and you don't have children requires the use of lent. .. niany eases o'f lead' poisoning, trained technicians. Tests using Chicago was the second city then your health department smaller amounts of blood have to begin mass screening. Since is not doing its Job/* said Dr. not yet been perfected. 1966, 160,066 children have Evan Chamey. associate pro OOnce a child is tested, what O' 28,000 children fessor nf pediatrics at . the constitutes poisoning? Different tested in 1967, 8-5per rent Onfversity of Rochester School places use different MmxMevels * h bjg,d.lff,d of Medicine ami Dentistry. as criteria. There is no mini- levels! higher than .05 mllli- Tlie number of rase* depends mum established level at which BTMTM-T P. **} cubic cen,er' lone hard people took." taSSnTSSS,*0rd""*e"<` ^htag ,0t Is ronsld- lead poisoning, which was at one time an occupational disease, must often occurs in poor neighborhoods where chil dren nilibfe the peeling lead- SX C^SI nr nir. 1,1?' S' STclors^Some^frei the ro. ^- cred Ibove normal, although most lilies use the .06 level w htdwte "a case." c"its *we,nnlnB to based paint found in deterio Hayior results from dietary de- "j Jj , maty of this year. New rating housing. Children one to fidencles; others feel it is a r ,. . np 32.d-million six years of age are the pri psj^dogleai NIb i mal? -virlims, and mure-than 5?***^* _.subscribe to neither) |2q q q q | children living Jn the S80 per rent of eases children between Ig occur and in 36 theory. Half of aft children with pica mothers of have pica South Bronx, Harlem, central Brooklyn and the Rockaway ratorics are sloppy, artment takes too fixing long, or the months. Extreme ingestion can cause swelling of the brain, themselves. An abnormally high lead level area of Queens. those nfeas are Children from considered "at ood-lead level for "poisoning' should bo towered. But the big train damage or death. National Center for Health The sta- In n child with idea is ficult to attain. A piece not dif of paint risk.** I There are U million gest complaint of this and other city programs ts that they do not Italics estimated that 122 chil the size of a thumb nail--eaten apartmdnt units built before give enough emphasis to "pre dren died of lead poisoning three times a week over a pe World War II--almost alt con vention.*' during 1967. riod of several months--can tain lead--of which one third Dr. Chisolm estimates that Experts who have worked in make a child sick. are deteriorating. ..toe a child has sustained the field tor years say .the Lead Tastes Good Fifty-five thousand children severe brain damage, fife cost N39170 Bi problem nationally is probably no more serious now than it ever was. Many more persons know about it, however, and that knowledge has spurred action, however. S30-MI!l!ott Appropriated" Earlier this week, the House voted to appropriate VHI-mltlion to aid localities in elimlnat- "l think we have been very based paint. The appropriation ing lead poisoning. The funds would underwrite up to 7 per out of the rox; of screeninf! old housing amt removing leadcnnxrdidafox more than two rlo7.cn hills dealing with lead poisoning that were introduced in the current session of Con gress. Many cities, like San Fran cisco, arc beginning pilot screening programs to try to determine just how serious their lead problem is. Other cities, like New York, Balti more. Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, have included a housing doan-up component with mass screening, Moic community groups umi individuals are beginning court Lead tastes good to children. Dr. Hyman Merenstein, assist ant director of the pediatric outpatient department at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, could not figure out why chil dren took to lead and kept go ing back to it. So he tasted It MmaclK It's surprisingly good." he said. "It has a sweet tastekind of like a cordial candy-- with a kind of ntcoholic after taste." Dr. Dudley Anderson, chief nf accident prevention division of the District of Columbia Health. Service said he found cases where children stuck their lollipops to the sail, pull ing paint oil on (he candy ts a coating. Once ingested it stays in the body, settling to the bones and affecting the Mood and kid neys. Anemia is virtually al ways present in lead poisoning esses. Once swelling of the brain has set to, there ts a 25 per rent chance of brain dam age. Subtle neurological effects of lower levels of intoxication have not been estimated. It takes the body twice as long have been tested so far this of caring for him in speqial in r. Forty-five per cent have stitutions for the rest bf his found to have biood-iead life is more than 3220,00 i. The levels of .04. Seventeen-hundred minimum cost of a 30-da hos were above the -06 level, but pital stay arid two years tF out Dr. Vincent Guinre, head of the patient (oltow-up Is more than city program, estimates the 31,000. real incidence closer to 8,000. Deleading a standard, row- Once a child Is "poisoned" type attached home in Balti a sanitarian visits his home to more runs from 3300 to 3600. ten lor had. If the walls con If interior windows and door tain more than one per cent ways are scraped too tl t fig- lead, they most be covcretlhy ere becomes SI200. The i :tst of wall hoards that extend at least fixing n Ny-v York City ipart- tour fert above tbe floor. - ment fs St59. I Painting over old pa**11 docs "The community is srf-nding not reduce the hazard. Because the money, but they're sirnding (he landlord must firrt be given it the wrong way. Dr. (Iiisolm a chance to do the Job before said. I the city does, it often takes five Dr. Laurence Ftobetgl chief weeks for an apartnynt to be of pediatrics at Mnnlefioife Hns- renovated. If the child Is in the ltal and Medical Ccnlcrfin the hospital undergoing treatment, ronx, estimates that I more he will have to stay until tus children to the city are} brain home environment is safe. damaged because of lead than The city program has come were by measles before the Im under much criticism: its labo- munization program began. actions against landlords in to excrete lead as it did to ac whose buildings children were poisoned and sustained perma cumulate it. Baltimore was the first city nent brain damage- Three cases have been won. to recognize that lead poison ing was a problem. It began But along with this activity collecting figures in 1931. In is a great deal of controversy 1035 It started free blood test and confusion that make a con ing. and to 1957 it started a certed program of eradication mass screening program. When difficult. Among xome of those housing to a selected shim area romidev factors are the fol was tested for the presence of lowing: lead, 00 per rent contained lev qia-ad poisoning is not a med- els "dangerous" to children. Ji'-al problem. It is a housing Wh-n the program of screen r-riddrm. Since most buildings ing began, only 24 eases had