MI
Lansing State Journal Lead Poisoning Series
BWL
to Replace Lead Piping to 14,000 Lansing Homes - Lansing's
water supplier has identified 14,000 homes with potential lead
poisoning problems and plans to replace piping going into the homes in
the next 10 years. Until Friday, however, the Board of Water and Light
had no plans to warn homeowners that the water they are drinking could
be dangerous.
Family Relies on Bottled Water Now - Chris and Emily Bourne
aren't taking any chances - they're now drinking bottled water and
also use it in their baby's formula.
500 Call BWL Over Lead Pipes - Lansing homeowners concerned
about the possibility of lead poisoning flooded the Board of Water and
Light with calls Monday. About 500 people called the public utility
after a story in Sunday's State Journal revealed the BWL's plans to
replace underground lead pipes leading to homes of 14,000 of its water
customers.
BWL Limits Info on Lead Pipes - About 5,000 of the 14,000
Lansing homes scheduled to have their water service lines replaced
contain all lead piping and have the greatest potential for tainted
water, Board of Water and Light officials said Thursday.
Daycare Providers Concerned About Possible Lead Exposure -
Patti Ellis learned in a letter that the water she serves to dozens of
children a month at a Lansing day-care center could be tainted with
lead. The center, housed in a former Lansing firehouse, is among
14,000 properties citywide with lead water pipes that weren't notified
about their pipes by the Lansing Board of Water and Light until last
week.
MD
Series on Lead Poisoning
This series of investigative articles and
editorials about Baltimore's lead poisoning epidemic and its
underlying causes is a great example of crusading investigative
reporting. This series also includes articles that describe the
dramatic responses of state and local officials to the problem. The
reporting is extremely high-quality, accurate and hard-hitting.
Series contains 7 articles.
Detroit Free Press Series on Lead
Poisoning
Investigative series
on the effect of lead poisoning on Detroit's children and efforts to
address the problem.
Detroit Free Press Q
& A:
Protecting against lead
paint
Detroit Free Press
Lead Q & A:
Protecting against tainted soil
Lead's Toxic Toll:
Potential of danger at 16 sites brings little action
Detroit list gets scant response from
officials.
Lead Poisoning:
State, city need to get
moving faster on solutions
State Senator to
Unveil Lead-Testing Plan
Every Michigan child
who lives in or spends substantial time in a house built before 1978 would be
tested for lead poisoning under legislation state Sen. Clarke, D-Detroit, plans
to introduce within the next few weeks.
Childhood Lead Poisoning News (Paul Haan, Get the
Lead Out, May 18, 2005)
Study on lead poisoned children not having access to
care:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB111575506240229529-IhjfINllal4nJyoZXmHbKaCm4,00.html
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/293/18/2232
Updated Medicaid testing rated (April 2005 report):
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/200504noID_124762_7.pdf
EPA backing away from passing rules for contractors requiring lead-safe work
practices and disclosure:
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=493
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-paint10may10,1,99282,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
Senate Letter of Concern:
http://www.afhh.org/aa/Congress_johnson_epa_letter_050905.pdf
PA
Lead's Challenges Leaching Into Education Reform -
The patterns of red, green, yellow, and orange that colored a map
of zip code areas in Philadelphia looked familiar to F. Joseph Merlino,
glancing at the image tacked on an office wall. Drawing from his knowledge
as project director for the Mathematics and Science Partnership of Greater
Philadelphia, Merlino concluded the map plotted PSSA scores by neighborhood.
He was wrong. It showed the rate at which children had tested for elevated
levels of lead in their bloodstream.
WA
Schools Hire Expert on Lead - Seattle
Public Schools has hired a toxicologist to spell out for parents answers to
questions about lead contamination of drinking water in the schools.
WA
Seattle District's Lead Woes Were Years in the Making -
As Seattle Public Schools wrestles with a multimillion-dollar
problem--how to get potentially dangerous levels of lead out of its drinking
water--one thing is clear: It's a problem that was years in the making. To get
to the level of contamination plaguing the district today, warnings about lead
had to be ignored, a comprehensive testing and repair program had to be
abandoned and aging water systems had to be neglected. All of those things
happened between 1990 and last fall, when concerned parents finally persuaded a
new School Board to test the water.
 U.S.
Toy Jewelry Recalled Because of Lead Risk - The
government today issued a recall of the largest number of
products ever when it announced that 150 million toy
bracelets, rings and necklaces that have been sold in the last
18 months will be removed by companies or should be discarded
because many of them contain dangerous amounts of lead. The
recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission involves toys
made in India, which cost 25 cents to 75 cents and have been
sold in 700,000 vending machines around the nation. Commission
chairman Hal Stratton urged parents to search their children's
toys for metal jewelry and throw it away. [Source: Detroit
Free Press, July 8, 2004]
WA
No Special Lead Testing in Response to
Unsafe Water - Children who sipped water from
lead-contaminated fountains at Seattle's public schools probably didn't drink
enough for their blood to register levels of the heavy metal considered
hazardous by federal standards. Still, health experts said, it's an unacceptable
level of risk.
WA
Schools' Water Fails Lead Testing - The first six Seattle
public schools to have their water tested all exceeded federal limits
for lead -- with dangerous levels found at dozens of drinking
fountains.
MI
Update on Status of
Statewide Lead Poisoning Task Force Recommendations from Doug
Paterson
OH
Lead Cleanup Cost: $500,000 - Cincinnati Country Day
School will have toxic lead removed from its school grounds
here by the time school opens in the fall, a project that
could cost up to half a million dollars, officials said
Thursday.
U.S.
Mercury-laced Shots OK for Kids, CDC Says
- Hundreds of thousands of infants and toddlers who
get flu shots starting this fall could be exposed to a
mercury-laced preservative that has been all but eliminated
from other pediatric vaccines because of health concerns.
MI
EHPnet: MSU-MDCH Blood Lead Levels
(BLL) Test Program - Lead poisoning causes significant
public health problems, including learning disabilities,
behavioral problems, and even death. According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, blood lead levels (BLLs)
above 10 micrograms per deciliter impair learning and behavior
in young children. Early detection and treatment can limit and
sometimes reverse the health problems associated with elevated
BLLs.
WA
Water From Schools With Old Pipes Being Tested For Lead -
Marcia Green knew her students would be excited to have clean water in
the cooking lab at Rainier Beach High School. But when she turned on a faucet
that had a new filter, nothing...
MI
Ann Arbor is
First City to Begin Phase-Out of Lead Weights - The
City of Ann Arbor has started replacing lead wheel balancing
weights with lead-free alternatives in vehicles that are in
the city fleet. One to two lead wheel weights are applied to
tire rims to balance the wheel for a smooth tide and long tire
wear. The City has joined forces with nonprofit Ecology
Center's "Lead-Free Wheels" program to install zinc and iron
weights on city vehicles.
D.C. Lead Issue Was
Debated for Months - Regional EPA Office Decided No
Federal Action Was Needed.
WA
Consultant Picked
to Test Water in Schools
- Seattle Public Schools has selected a
Bellevue-based consultant for advice on testing the quality of
water in school fountains and for developing a plan to address
lead contamination.
WA
Lead-Tainted Faucets Force Districts to Use Bottled Water
- Seattle Public Schools will provide
bottled water to about 70 schools after the winter
break and test drinking water in all locations
following an analysis initiated by a parent that
showed high levels of lead and cadmium in
drinking fountains.
MI
Poll Backs Findings of Lead
Exposure - A new private poll underscores the potential danger to
children due to exposure to lead, with at least an estimated
52,000 at risk. The poll by EPIC/MRA follows Monday's
announcement by Governor Jennifer Granholm for enhanced
education to new parents and stepped up testing for children in
low-income families.
MI
EPA Press Release on Smelter Cleanup & Lead on
Detroit's East Side (June 2003)
MI
Granholm Unveils Plan to
Protect Children from Lead Poisoning -
Launches Testing Initiative -
While visiting health care facilities offering lead testing to
children in two communities today, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
announced that her administration will take immediate actions to
help prevent lead poisoning in Michigan's children.
MI
LEAD'S TOXIC TOLL:
Granholm's plan tackles lead threat -
Gov. Jennifer Granholm will issue a new plan today to
tackle childhood lead poisoning in Michigan, including sending a
letter to every new mother in the state about the hazards of
lead and testing more children for lead poisoning, especially
those who are eligible for Medicaid.
MI
Gets HUD Grant for Lead abatement
- HUD Awards Nearly $29 Million to Protect Thousands of Children From
Dangerous Lead Hazards.
Lead Tests:
State should mandate testing of
all children - Detroit Free Press Editorial -
It may not be possible to test every backyard in Michigan for
lead, but it is imperative that this state test every child for
exposure to it.
Home
Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2003 (Introduced in Senate)
[S.1228.IS] A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
provide a tax credit for property owners who remove lead-based paint
hazards.
Sponsor: Senator Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] (introduced 6/10/2003)
Co-sponsor: Senator DeWine, Michael - 6/10/2003 [OH]
MI
Lead Label Agreement Announced
- Michigan Attorney Gen. Michael Cox
announced an agreement aimed at educating and warning consumers and
families about the risk of lead paint exposure during repainting and
other home renovation work.
Intellectual Impairment in Children with Lower
Blood Lead Concentrations -
Conclusions Blood lead concentrations, even those below 10 µg per
deciliter, are inversely associated with children's IQ scores at three and five
years of age, and associated declines in IQ are greater at these concentrations
than at higher concentrations. These findings suggest that more U.S. children
may be adversely affected by environmental lead than previously estimated.
Another argument that not all children are "ready to succeed"?
2002 CDC Case
Management Manual:
Managing Blood Lead Levels Among Young Children
47,000 homes in Lansing could
have high lead levels - Local agencies say
assessments, testing is key.
DETROIT REACTION:
Council calls for action on lead concerns
Hazards lurking in soil as children play
- High lead levels abound in Detroit and metro area.
Education & Prevention:
Few kids are tested, leaving thousands in need of help
State
Slow to Act on Lead Paint Threat -
Paint dust impairs children's IQ and behavior.
Fighting a Poison:
Ingested
Lead Paint - Detroit toddlers undergo weeklong treatments.
Abatement Contractors:
Lead
Paint Removal Quality May Vary
Repair
money squandered while kids face danger -
Janiya is the kind of child Congress had in mind when it set aside $313 million
over the last five years to remove lead from homes in low-income neighborhoods
across the country.
Fewer kids at risk for lead
poisoning - New gasoline formulas bring a
dramatic drop; other hazards persist.
Detroit Must Get
The Lead Out - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
has embraced the slogan, "Kids, Cops, Clean" in creating a focus for his
administration. Part of that program must include addressing the health concerns
of as many as 18,000 children who have some level of lead poisoning in their
systems.
PA
Schools rarely test water for lead - The dangerous metal can
leach from plumbing. With no requirement, problems can be missed, experts say.
NY
Lead Levels in Schools' Water Prompt Warnings and Shut-Offs
-
The New York City schools shut off drinking fountains and
posted warning signs on sinks at one in five of its public
elementary schools after finding high levels of lead in the
water.
RI
Jury deliberates for
second day in lead paint case
Lead
Poisoning: Maybe It's Beyond
That - We've been thinking about tooth decay in a way
that's almost like blaming the victim -- if your children have
tooth decay, it's because you don't brush their teeth right,
or maybe their snacking habits are bad. This study says that
maybe its beyond that.
MD
Series on
Lead Poisoning: This series of investigative
articles and editorials about Baltimore's lead poisoning
epidemic and its underlying causes is a great example of
crusading investigative reporting. This series also includes
articles that describe the dramatic responses of state and
local officials to the problem. The reporting is extremely
high-quality, accurate and hard-hitting.
Series contains 7 articles.
MD
Studies suggest link
between lead, violence - Experiment on rats indicates
exposure hinders brain growth; Analysis tracks lead, crime.
Why Some Children Can't Learn -
Kyle lay down in the middle of the street on his way to school last
October. He rested his too-small head on his book bag. And he
told his little brother to go on without him. "I'm sick of
living," his brother recalled him saying. "I'm just gonna wait
here till a truck comes and runs me over. Don't worry, I just
want to die."
Ignorance Is Not Bliss -
Although the education community appears oblivious to the
devastating consequences of lead in the neighborhoods
surrounding "failing schools," increasingly they are becoming
the only ones to ignore the obvious.
back to the top
|