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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1992 ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH COMMENTARY 3E The Epidemic That Isn't By Jeffrey L. Zelms By overlooking these critical facts, re cent news stories have blurred the dis he latest round of publicity from tinction between the relatively few cases Tthe U.S. Environmental Protection of children with very high blood-lead Agency on lead in drinking water levels -- and in need of medical treat and the front-page attention given to itmbyent for lead poisoning -- and other the media show how popular -- and at children who may have blood-lead read the same time how inaccurate -- it has ing a few points above 10, but who would become to promote lead poisoning as an not be routinely even referred to a doc epidemic of major proportions. tor under the CDC guidelines. One-sided reports appearing across This confusion has resulted in lines in the country have created fear in millions news stories like "it's an epidemic" and of people, fears that are largely unneces "we're going to poison every generation sary. These reports are based largely on careless reading or misinterpreta tion of new guidelines on lead published by the Cen ters for Disease Control. The CDC's new guide lines establish a multitier system of assessing lead- exposure risks. The over all goal is to reduce chil dren's blood-lead levels below 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (ug/dl). Most children's blood-lead levels are there already -- the national av erage for U.S. children is 4 to 6 ug/dl, according to EPA, well below the 10-ug level and trending downward. The EPA calls lead-ex posure reduction an envi ronmental success story. Yet, somehow, this 10-ug goal has been misinterpreted as the until we've gotten the lead out of all the crossover point to lead poisoning. This homes," which suggests that any lead in simply isn't true. As a CDC official said at the blood is tantamount to lead poison a lead industry health conference on Oct. ing. This is not the truth. 2, "We never intended for the 10 level to Many responsible scientists have criti be considered `lead poisoned'." cized the CDC's guidelines as being too At levels above 10, the CDC recom conservative, and based on studies that mends increased education and better overstate the risks. This scientific con efforts to monitor the child's environ troversy deserves to be resolved, but in ment, nutrition and hygiene. Only at lev the meantime, the CDC has clearly opted els above 20 is medical evaluation rec for a course of extreme caution. ommended, and medical treatment The new multitier approach, with a 10 ordinarily administered only when a goal and different actions to be taken at child is above 45. 15, 20, 45, and 70 ug/dl levels, replaced CDC's previous standard, which used a single number -- 25 ug/dl -- as the dividing line. By ignoring the complexity of the new system, some observers have simpiistically recalculated the numbers of chil dren above 10 and, comparing this num ber to those measuring above 25, declared an "epidemic" of lead poison ing. This sort of inaccuracy serves no good purpose. The worst of it is that those children who do have truly high bloodlead levels will now be lost in a sea filled with other children who do not really have a lead problem and do not need medical attention. Preventive measures -- not hysteria -- should be the rallying cry of those interested in the real lead problem. Neighborhood blood sur vey programs are a must; so are yearly medical checkups for children. A few, simple steps can do much to lessen the risk Of lead poisoning: damp mopping floors, wiping windowsills, washing hands and faces before eating, keeping objects out of children's mouths and good supervision, for starters. Most parents had much more lead in their systems as children than their children have. To concentrate expensive government and private actions on across-the-board "clean-ups" rather than on nutrition and other proven pro-child development pro grams is the real waste. Government must not mismanage the lead issue and allow it to become another health scare we all regret Alar, dioxin and asbestos are sad reminders of that Jeffrey L Zelms is president and CEO of tie Doe Run Co., St Louis County, and chairman of the Lead Industries Association. DR 1002303