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Detroit Free Press
Editorial, June 3, 2003
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.
Every new finding adds to the urgency. Soil tests done by students
reaffirm results from earlier Free Press tests: Lead lingers in the
soil in neighborhoods throughout Detroit, multiplying the dangers
children face from living in older homes that may also have peeling
lead paint.
Preliminary results of a study released last week by Western Michigan
University show half of newborns at Kalamazoo hospitals already have
detectable levels of lead in their systems; one in 20 had levels high
enough to be associated with neurological damage. There's no reason to
believe that Kalamazoo babies differ greatly from babies born in any
other Michigan city, especially in the southern half of the state.
That means far too many of Michigan's children start at a
disadvantage.
Lead is clearly linked to diminished intellectual capacity; it, in
effect, lowers the state's IQ. Behavior problems and delinquency rates
also correlate with lead, and research this spring reaffirmed that
even the smallest amounts hurt kids.
The shocking percentage of newborns with lead exposure suggests that
women who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant should also
get lead tests. Good nutrition can deter some of the transfer of lead
to the developing fetus, and other treatments may help.
Once children are beginning to crawl and explore their new worlds,
lead tests are essential. The Legislature should make them mandatory,
and they should become as routine as vaccinations. No child should be
sentenced to the long-term ills of lead poisoning simply because the
state prefers to ignore the problem.
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