Document nmw7vaRz6k9vVOoqrwa1eM1mw

2 ratucEiPHu mimwai - mum, mmi tt;u lead Poisoning Seen Prein Damage Cause, ) ; ) - ` if,if ` By JOE CLARK * ` " A University of Femtsjh'aoia biochemist believes an "enormous number" of child* en in ghetto areas ip the city with mcniafr'Thjd learning). problems suffer brain damage caused Wiead poisoning.^/ Dr.HrnntrSfcafit nflm assistant professor at Penn, says a 6-nnmth study he has just completed shows children who live in the inner city have five times as much lead in their teetb as youngsters in the suburbs. The examination of the teeth, he said, was a tool in determining the amount of lead, which, in the ghetto, most frequently comes from eating peeling paint and cracked putty. I'citnm nmmmts of lend are also breathed in through pol luted air, he adds. ACCORDING TO Or. Mr.rvin Aaronson, city medical ex aminer, there were no deaths linked to lead poisoning in the city last year. ``However," he added, "there were 72 incomplete cases; fitl of which slww some fe^o of chemical involvement." Or. Sitapiio's research is being done with baby teeth of children from tetris of Philadelphia, Montgomery and Dela- cmr enmities, and llurliiip.tmt, N. .1. So far he has received SW teeth, (ml he pays, "We want as many as we can get. The more teeth we have, the belter we can keep up~whb what's going into our children." lie has received the teeth from various community groups, drrtif riintw, hoepiinls mid dentists. Hie study Involves teeth liar ages i through il. * flirt** was a marked ditfcrence between the two groups ti'ii > in it >'ii i a uni `In r in the suburbs)," Dr. Shapiro fjsiii iii h i mifitioiv itiih the Daily News. . 11112 AWtll'NlS jl lend f mid in some inner city children,' -.ml t ric 1 (.i i i-ly hipli," adding: "We can say this J i hog *. in with -'User cidence that there are a lot more c,v i ( .iioiic 'e.-il pniior.inp ir, the inner city than doctors ever find." ! Alter ths1 lead fids into the system, Dr. Shaptio says, "il Dr. Irving Shapiro; Photo fey Jeseplt AfcSutrai . a lot of effect.' stunts mental growth." "It doesn't have much effect on physical growth, but has a lot of effect on bchavoria! growth. Children with lead poison ing tend tube very backward." Dr. Shapiro said the program was mainly "interested In finding out about children who don't show any overt symptoms of lead poisoning; those who take small amounts of lead into the body from a young age, and the lead wouldn't show up in the blood." The doctor said he was certain there were slotv-lcarning, backward children in Philadelphia, but no one knows "the background of what causes the problem. There's no real ptanniion. Some coll it a silent epidemic," he said. N39137