Document x51oynxVbE0Ok8JRKQ15JEy41

LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, Inc. 292 Madison Avenue New York, N. Y. 10017 August 2, 1971 To J- L. Kimberley Fr o m J. F. Cole and J. F. Smith Re: Visit to NPVLA, Richard Gallagher of HEW and Irwin Billick of HUD July 29, 1971 From NPVLA - Royal Brown, Technical Director Stella Miller, Director Trade Sales & Public Relations John Montgomery, General Counsel Substance of conversation involved possible differences in toxicity between lead pigments--which presently cannot be supported or refuted with scientific data--J. Cole expressed interest of ILZRO in possible joint re search with NPVLA to check this out. Guinee announcement in New York City about discovery of higher than 1% lead content interior paints was discussed. I got the general impression that NPVLA did not believe Guinee. Instead, they felt he might have been referring to "interior-exterior" paints. NPVLA implied that such paints would not "in a strict sense" fall under the voluntary 1% rule, although they did admit that such paints could be mistakingly used in interior areas accessible to small children. When we suggested that NPVLA might take a position urging its members to abide stricfcly by the 1% interior paint regulations, I was surprised that they felt this was strickly a voluntary operation and could not be effectively promulgated by NPVLA. I think NPVLA was also concerned that Dr. Cole and I might be intending to discuss 1% paints, etc., with the Government and we assured them that we had no such intention. Our mission was stricfcly to gather information about any Government directives concerning the new law, LIA2 5021 J. L. Kimberley 2 August 2, 1971 and to offer background information on childhood lead poisoning, which has been developed over the last 30 years. Richard E. Gallagher Mr. Gallagher informed us that the Government is doing a 30-city study in which they will take 50 to 100 blood leads from children, and will investigate 10 to 15 homes for lead paints in each city. In the Fall there will apparently be a meeting at the Building Research Advisory Board to discuss what industry can do and the kind of technology involved in removing lead paints from the interior of the affected structures. At that time we will all be invited to participate. Regarding directives defining where lead paints can be used, there is a draft which is expected to be issued in late August for consideration by NPVLA, LIA, and other industry groups prior to its final printing and Federal Register. Mr. Gallagher indicated that he had 'tjiven in" on fire escapes and that they are taking an approch that only areas where children of 1-3 are exposed are going to be important. Hospitals, clinics, and the exterior of homes, with the exception of porches, are not considered a problem. My overall view is that they are being very pragmatic--they are not worried at this time about exterior wood primers nor do they consider metal window frames and fire doors dangerous until proven so. They are adopting a "weight of metal (or paint) per unit of available areas" method of evaluating potential hazards to 1-3 year olds. Dr. Irwin Billick-HUD Dr. Billick has the responsibility of working with Title II and is most concerned about the removal problems. He also cited the 2 LIA25022 Mr. Kimberley 2 August 2, 1971 the 30-city study and mentioned that it was being conducted in the hopes that it would serve as a model to define the extent of the problem. Dr. Billick said that he did not think a paint could be developed that would, because of its bad taste, discourage young children from chewing on plaster and lead paints. He cited a study that had been conducted at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, which apparently showed that young children in the 1-3 bracket have very little taste discrimination. We left it that if there were anything either ILZRO or LIA could do in providing background information on childhood lead poisoning, we would be happy to. JFS:lm LIA25023