Filed Under: Environmental Issues | New York City | Public Health | Public Health

Lead PaintLead Poisoning Though the use of lead gasoline and lead paint has been banned for many years, thousands of New York City children each year have elevated blood lead levels, commonly known as lead poisoning. Lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage, affecting learning ability and cognition. Lead poisoning can also cause behavioral problems. Infants and young children are particularly at risk of lead poisoning, because their brains and nervous systems are particularly vulnerable in their early developmental stages. Stereotypes suggest that children are poisoned by lead paint chips. However, in reality most children are poisoned by microscopic lead paint dust that is picked up by the child on their hands, and then ingested through normal hand-to-mouth activity. Such dust cannot be seen by the naked eye; only a dust wipe test can determine its presence. In New York City, approximately 80% of the housing stock was built before 1960, when lead paint was banned for residential use. Testing suggests that about 25% of painted surfaces in pre-1960 apartments are coated with lead paint. New York State law requires that children be tested for lead at ages one and two. It is also suggested that children under six be assessed at least annually for lead poisoning. New York State law defines 10 mcg/dL, or greater, as an elevated blood lead level. Most children poisoned by lead will not show over symptoms and can only be diagnosed through testing. Although testing for lead poisoning is important, effective prevention of poisoning is the goal of New York City’s new lead paint law. It is also a serious problem for pregnant women and their fetuses; lead ingested by the mother can cross the placenta. Most children poisoned by lead will not show symptoms and will only be diagnosed through testing. Regulation of Lead New York City’s new lead poisoning prevention law, called Local Law 1 of 2004, took effect on August 2nd, 2004. Local Law 1 requires landlords to inspect for, and eliminate, lead paint and lead dust hazards in apartments built before 1960 with a child under the age of seven in residence. The law also requires the use of EPA-certified abatement workers to eliminate lead paint hazards. Only properly trained personnel using proper safety procedures should ever undertake activities that disturb significant amounts of lead paint. Local Law 1 does not generally require the elimination of intact lead paint, but it does require landlords to address peeling paint and lead painted surfaces that can scrape against other similar surfaces, generating lead dust. The law also requires landlords to remediate surfaces upon which a child of teething age might chew. The law also requires landlords to affirmatively ascertain whether or not a child under the age of seven resides in an apartment. Landlords have complained that the new law is very expensive to comply with. Local Law 1 replaced the previous lead paint law, Local Law 38, which was overturned by the Courts. Critics considered Local Law 38 too weak. It replaced a previous lead law from 1982 that had also been tied up in litigation. Parties Involved Government: Federal: Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; State: Department of Environmental Conservation; City:, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Poison Control Center. Advocates: Environmental Defense, New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, New York Public Interest Research Group, Parents Against Lead in Schools, Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.