LEAD
Lead in our homes and in our products
Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that can have irreversible health impacts including reduced IQ, attention deficits, learning disabilities, and speech and hearing impairments. Children are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning as their bodies are still developing and more readily absorb ingested lead
Lead-based paint in housing is the primary source of exposure to lead in Vermont. Almost 70% of Vermont’s housing units were built prior to 1978—the year lead was banned in residential paint. Lead-contaminated dust can be created by friction (including the use of doors and windows), renovations, remodeling, and maintenance activities.
Children are also exposed to lead in products including toys and jewelry. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has recalled 150 million pieces of lead-tainted jewelry since 2004 in addition to the more than 13 million toys recalled in recent months.
The impacts reach beyond childhood
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no safe blood lead level has been identified. Despite this, lead poisoning remains a serious problem that will have long-term impacts for the state of Vermont.
The cost to Vermonters over the lifetime of children with elevated blood lead levels is conservatively estimated to be at least $52,000 in direct health care, $220,000 in special education, and $80 million in lost earnings.
In order to prevent the short-term and long-term health and economic impacts caused by lead poisoning, Vermont must take measures to reduce exposure to lead in both housing and consumer products. The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Vermont is working to ensure that this happens.
Quick Facts:
Vermont recently lowered its blood lead level of concern from 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood to 5 micrograms. This means that of the children 6 years and under tested in Vermont in 2006, nearly 2,000 had levels of lead in their blood that can cause adverse health effects.
Even at very low levels of exposure, lead can reduce IQ, cause hyperactivity, attention deficit, and other impairments. Recent studies have even linked lead to violent and criminal behavior.
Vermont has the second oldest housing stock in the nation & exposure to house paint manufactured before 1978 constitutes the greatest risk of lead poisoning.
In 2005, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 10.6 million lead-tainted children’s products.
There is currently no bright line national ban on lead in children’s products.
Research shows that children with severely elevated lead levels are 6 times more likely to have a reading disability as compared to other children. New England Journal of Medicine 01/11/99 |
Solutions that Can Win
1) We must pass a full ban on lead in children’s products.
Only by joining the call to stop the use of lead in children’s toys and other items can we truly ensure the safety of our youngest generation. Thus, the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Vermont strongly supports legislation that would ban the use of lead in children’s products and a variety of other consumer goods.
2) We must reduce exposure to lead in our homes.
Vermont must do more to protect children in both rental and owner-occupied housing. To this end, the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Vermont will work to improve Vermont’s existing lead law via the passage of H.352.
