Bid to rid homes of lead paint belongs in court

Finally, the lead poisoning crisis in Flint, Michigan has begun to subside.  The latest data reveals that 146 children under six years old in the City of Flint and its Genesee County suburbs tested positive for lead poisoning in 2016. In contrast, a shocking 3,415 children living in our five county region tested positive for dangerous amounts of lead in their blood in that same year. 

If our region’s rate of childhood lead poisoning was consistent with the rate that Flint experienced when their water supply was tainted with lead, 1460 children in Phila and the suburbs would have tested positive, not more than 3,400.    As outrageous as it may be, the truth is that the rate of children in Southeastern PA whose lives will be forever damaged by lead is six times greater here than in Flint

The difference in our region is that children are predominately being poisoned in their homes by the remnants of lead paint and their tragedies are not getting national attention.

Nearly 100 years of research shows that when children ingest lead their lives are forever changed.  These young children are likely to be saddled with a cognitive delay that will rob them of a lifetime of opportunity.  A significant percentage will suffer from stunted impulse control that will be at the root of a tragic encounter with law enforcement that steals from them the chance of a prosperous adulthood.  And some of these youngsters will be haunted by anxiety or depression that’s incurable because the cause of their condition is buried deep in their bones.

That any child is still poisoned by lead forty years after lead paint and lead in gasoline was banned is an outrage.  For 30 years, PCCY has been fighting to prevent our children from being exposed to unsafe levels of lead, along with our other work battling for our schools, protecting children’s health and safety. 

We fight for kids in the chambers of the Capitol; and with partners we look to the courts to make crucial decisions in the interests of children.
We have a long history of working vigorously to tell the public that our elected officials must do more to protect children from the toxic legacy of lead paint. 

Back in the day, the addition of lead to paint was advertised as being long lasting.  All these years later, thousands of children in our region poisoned by lead paint and lead paint dust reveals the tragic truth of its advertising.  That’s why in addition to continuing to press for more public funds for lead paint removal we are also letting county and city officials across the state know that the companies that produced the product in the first place are logical sources of the funds needed to get the lead out of our homes.

Lead paint was banned in the U.S. in 1978, 27 years after Baltimore first banned its use because of alarming research published by Johns Hopkins University showing the product’s threat to the health of children.  Since then the government has been picking up the tab of lead paint removal to keep children safe. 

Even the most ambitious public effort has barely scraped the surface of the enormous task of abating millions of houses and apartments that are contaminated with decades of lead residue.  One thing about lead: it sticks to whatever it comes into contact with, including our children’s blood and their bones.

Just two months ago, the California Supreme court found for a set of local governments, awarding them $1.15 billion to pay for the cost of lead paint removal and requiring the lead paint companies to foot the bill.  We believe that, given the opportunity, Pennsylvania Courts may come to the same conclusion. 

We applaud the leadership of Montgomery and Lehigh counties for asking the courts in Pennsylvania to make that same determination.  These public officials are true champions for children and deserve the praise and gratitude of every resident of their respective counties.