Document pp01ew7B1Rpvj6Y18wBja1MpE

on Best Way to Halt Lead Poisoning sr&w J5K5By NANCY HICICS TlM2' J?"* tthou*ht tort* to repair the apartments of all screening of high-risk rimgrmpassed a *7.5' children. _*ppipriat(nn for toadtnnisnn. inc'p.revention iant wrek, hut flstaMsic question -- whit can stitatos prevention?--remains unsnlvrd nmone public health practinncrs. The few toad poisoning pro grams currently in oneraiion around the country ail look for children with high tovrls of toad in their Mood and then clean up the environment that pnishnrd them. The nmv an- of the Hazardous Substance* Act to have the FJ7JC tan n TMe report 01 *PriWwf tost household product If the landlord fail Those filing the petition are: Joseph A. Page, an associate the Job, as happemrtn five of six cuesT'the Housing out De- protosw at Georgetown Uni- veioapefit AdmMMretom wffl y&VJSZ1 Cglgi Pepesen- dnSfand hill the landlord. A * J!! t ^ Ry*w. Demo- affokesman for the Agency said mt of Manhattan: Anthony^ it had removed the leaf from Young and Mary Win Omen, 7,100 apartments since January, ?,,studSentJs art Ce?orSEftoi"3]VEnto?w-*1*9'*70. and had been paid tor to fearer than 40? a The President signed the bill Into law. Fifty-two cities, fa. efoffagLNew York, applied for a total of SMbmililoit under the provision* ofNhe hid. They waited fart the'Administration did not ask for funds and none were appropriated. \The cities themselves did not\come up with local funds. \ fto' Dudley Anderton. the head of Washington's lead poi"** pre*ram, explained the proprfcUinn measure takes this and Dr. Edmund- 0. Rothschild. Such costs are seoarate from situation In Ms city a, he Fed approai b. , Pjisleian at Memorial Hos- those of the city's *2.2-rnmion eralappropriation was rending. Put many doctors feel that it pital In Nev^ York. A spokes- program for screening children, Initial screening found i 10 per would be more useful and lea* man for Representative Ryan's That effort is headed by Dr. rent incidence among the few Cosily, to have a systematic office ld they hoped tor a Vincent F. Guinee of toe De- thousand children tt ted, he cleanup of.housing known to response in next few weeks, partment of Health. aald, and continued: SSfltaVStaL* ingest the paint. #&* Check* Backed do many of "When we started ur pro- ,___. the doctors, believes that the *rem, the only funds we had 4M,tW Affected MhJSj wS'SS? Present P?TM*** <**' offer a were those diverted tr m other sources, and toe Mod I Cities s:,LP.*,rfr!TMn(SSc*!,ff<!m"!*3Sf hfTM* lands we have reee red are timated 400.000 American ehjr risk and spend the *850 that Icad tevels are fouhd before, available only through this Dedren annually. Almost allJSf it costa on the avenge to re- he wmptoiS? of uoitoninl' cember. these esses result from the plto move the lad from each dwell- show and bSore anjTrhmire filing of peeling paint In dMap* Ing unit. They sty this tp- is <Un The sntrimerit (s thf* Fong Request Re red Waled buildings by younft'chfl. preach Is cheaper. If \ithat tS wJf Federal funds d not be dren, usually between I/and 6 -Each child who must be hos- child's brothers and filters' or come available, the I ad paint yinegarhsuoilrt abgeof.orAelmWoosrtldalWt liaornsIT* palbtaotufet ead wfoerektreinatmtheenthosippefntadls. tmherin^eVxtwfamminlvatto> fraendtinthge wfeontne screening pi )gram fa the District of Columns, for all ha. lead-based paint/nd st.id- They daily cost of such care in XtataTpSKl * Practical purposes, wifi cease to le* of paint current!/ marketed large metropolitan trtas, where 0 - . 4 < exist There is no Imp! money as `nonlead" found7 that some lead poisoning Is mainly found, rands Different to Obtain here. We are on a tfo budget hrands did cnntaWleiid. . exceeds $100 a day. New York City jrcaUh depart* a week's stay, therefore, , This approach is more polltl eally realistic, too. they say. --no money project*.** at aft fof I any new went officials wid that 93 per rent nt 2,600 reported cases last vrar coulWd be traced to housing. / _ Chicago. Baltimore, as well as New York, ktepeet the house* of children with high Wood- costs more titan the average price of repairing each unit, which stiH must be done. Since most patients are poor, their hospital bills are probably paid through Medicaid, which means with tax monies. They point to the difficulty that was involved In winning pa* saee of the $7Jtamifn *p. propriation Congress Approved last week even though a steady stream of medical worker* pleaded for "the minds and Most efforts to off* the same data presented lest >*ar to law. makers fa a new forfa were un successful. Then tfaf politics or embarrassment began -- mam* groups and polHujan* began questioning the sincerity or the lead levels, remove all the old Besides the 200 children who lives of children.** paint and we to ft that re-jdie each year from lead poison* a national effort to Merdi* minting is done. The processjlng Federal health officials es- rate lead poisoning" began earlv j* nfien slow. {tlmate 600 are poisoned hadfy last year and freaked by the But repair is onlv authorized enough lo sustain permanent summer. By the end of the in Inn dwelling unit in which'brain damage. Most of these year. Congress had approved a the child Jhas been poisoned,'patients receive almost lifelong compromise of two Dills -- a even though other apartmentHnstitutionatized care. Dr. J. House version sponsored by in the sajhe building may be'Jufian Chisolm of Baltimore es* Representative Ryan and a equally hazaraotrv. 'timates that more than $200,000 Senate version, sponsored by Six persons filed a peittion.is spent on each of these dill- Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat wilh the Fond ami Drug Admin.!rfrcn. more than the cost of of Massachusetts, sfration fa Washington tfti*tremrvAtiftg'300 dwelling units. - It authorized spending $30- Administration's yew health reform proposal, when no eppropriation was requested for lend poisoning prexrniion. Hie Administration asked for J2*millioo. which was raised to S5*mlliion fa the House and tit million fa the Senate, before the $7.5*mHHon wns agreed on * i conference. ! One InsliUrtfan Ifeat has con. tinned to push the housing cleanup approach Is Kings County Hospital -- Downstste veck that requested the F.D.A.* New York has the most ex- million over two years and said Medical Center In Brooklyn, n ban all future sale and uacjlenrive lead poisoning program (he Federal Government would which handles more cases than cf ad-based paint. . - *in thy r--it t ytdres land- pick up the cost of 75 pc cent any other hospital Hi the city. (V iliutum