Document zo2XY0QqMmk1vBw31nOOmxzpm

"" ....... 1........... ... ... ....... ........g......... rf... j, A Policy Is Needed to Help Control Children's Exposure to Lead Tothe Editor: fact of life to resea xhers in the held, accumulates, however, it will always Prof. Claire Emhart asserts (letter, and Dr. Ernhart's "new" analysis be subject to some uncertainties that June 1) that her review of the scion- belaborsanold and obvious truth, permit the essentially obstructionist tific evidence for effects of low-level lead exjosure on thiidren'* learning Criticisms of methodology cannot argument Ernhart advances While be construed as evidence that lead wc delay, society risks wasting the and behavior came to the contusion that such effects, if any, arem nlmal. does not have adverse effects on intel potential intellectual capabilities of ligence They can only poait out the hundreds of tliouaands ol cluldn.ii. i I She adds that "those who disagree" wridi her position "have been urable to providean effective rebuttal " Dr Emhart neglected to mention an Important fact: When sue ap peared at hearings before the Envi ronmental Protection Agency in April to make the same argument, .he did so on behalf of the Lead Industries Association. difficulty iif establishing tlus beyond a doubt. The crucial question is one of pub lic policy. If science cannot provide absolute proof that lead harms chil dren's minds, although much evi dence suggests It may, what should society do about exposure to lead? We have two choices Which risk, is more acceptable? To me, the answer is clear But it lunges on a moral judgment, not a scientific one That moral dimension j some thing Dr, Emhart -- and the lead in dustry for which she speaks -- seem unable or unwilling to confront In a USD report, which I helped write, a cnmmitte* of experts from I Moreover, at these E.P.A, hearings We can take costly steps to reduce the National Academy of Sciences i (on proposals to relax or repeal rales on lead in gj-ol'ne), I presented a con exposure of children to lead, as urged took that issue head-on. The commit by the overwhelming majority of tee concluded, "Inaction because of cise rebuttal to her analysis. Others medical experts who testified before uncertainties Is unacceptable in the i have done so on other occasions as well Without going Into scientific do- ta.1 here is the essence of the counter argument the h P A If the experts an. wrong, and in fact lead has no harmful ef fects, society could waste millions of dinars on measures that don't really case ol lead in the environs of urban Children." That Is a judgment society should fall back on as we wrestle with poll- there Is a mounting body of evi protect health ties (Or controlling exposure to had dence. consisting of a handful of rea sonably well-designed human studies On the other hand, wc could delay action until there is far mure compel EuvAxoCKOni3o Director, Public Service Projects and much supporting data from neurochemical and behavioral itudies ling evidence of lead's harmful ef fects. No matter how much evidence Consumers Unionof United States Mount Vernon, N.Y., June 3,1U82 i in laboratory animals, which suggests that low-level exposure to lead does indeed have oubtle effects on bthavwr a.id learning ability The gruwi lg cousr-uu3 of scien'ific authorities is that this evidence is sufficiently jicrsua- s^ve to be takenveryseriously. It is wholly unrealistic to expect that any study of something as com plex as human behavior and learning can be free of methodological "weak m The NewYorkTimes Company 229Weet43dSt. N.Y. 10038 anTHUK OCRS SULZB8IIGLR, CAavmoi SYDsn (.HU-ON, Viet Chairman WALTER MATTSON,Awutent DAVID 1GOfUlAM Senior VuePnndent BENJAMIN HANDS LMAN.Snuir VierAmtuil MICIIAU.R RVAN Senior Via Pniutenl GUV T OCKRt-IT. VieePlresident 80UIMCN B MAIVINIV decretory DENESK. FLETCHER, JVcawrar ness." There will always be potential i confounding explanations for differ ences in intelligence among children, , and no amount of care can design an { experiment that can completely rale Operating Groups jcim D POMnurr.Srw VutPteudmt CHARLES B BRAKJKnBLD. VicePresident WILLIAM H.DAVIS, VicePresident j o h h a Ha r r is o n , vrpresident W1LUAMTKKRR. VicePreudent I out such uncertainty. This Is a simple ,, . . .V- .................... N33778 TEH 0531864