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Diverse Group of Supporters Calls Upon Governor Patterson to Sign Lead Poisoning Prevention Legislation into Law
Diverse Group of Supporters Calls Upon Governor Patterson to Sign Lead Poisoning Prevention Legislation into Law
October 1, 2008
Author: Michael Hanley
The Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention and Safe Housing Act of 2008 was sent by the Assembly to Governor Patterson on Monday, October 6. The Governor has until Friday, October 17 to act on the legislation, and a mix of city and county governments, health agencies, educators, physicians, health advocates and public interest legal programs are urging Governor Paterson to seize this opportunity to prevent thousands of children from being poisoned each year.
In 2005 the New York State Department of Health identified nearly 5,000 new cases of children poisoned by lead paint whose brains and nervous systems are likely to be permanently damaged. That number is not an estimate, but the actual number of children who were identified as poisoned. Since only 45 to 50% of the children who are required to be screened at ages one and two are actually tested for lead poisoning, however, the real number of children poisoned may easily exceed 10 to 15,000 per year.
Schools are concerned about these numbers because they affect not only IQ loss in children, but create behavioral problems (aggression, decreased attention, increased risk behaviors) that impede the education process. It is believed that 70% or more of the children damaged by lead live in the "Big 5" school districts (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers and NYC) and these schools have the highest drop-out rates in the state (see attached letter in support).
Empire Justice has been particularly concerned about the racial disparities associated with childhood lead poisoning. One in three African American children under age 5 lived in a "high risk" zip code as identified by the state in 2001, as opposed to only one in 25 non-minority children. That is an African-American child is approximately more than nine times more likely to live in a high risk area. Although the statewide lead poisoning incidence rate is now below 2% of the children tested, for minority children the rate is much higher. In certain neighborhoods, particularly older, lower-income urban neighborhoods, the lead poisoning rate exceed 10% to 15% and in some areas is even much higher.
Under current law, local health departments rarely inspect a housing unit for lead-paint hazards until a child has been poisoned, and city building inspectors are not authorized by state law to inspect for lead-paint hazards. The new law would require health and building officials to work together to prepare "primary prevention" plans to find lead hazards before children are poisoned, building on "pilot program" efforts begun recently by the state in 8 counties this year, with 6 to be added soon..
It would also require the State Department of Health to work with local health and building officials to identify those areas of the state where housing (typically housing built before 1950 in lower-income neighborhoods) poses the greatest hazards to children under age six. Nearly forty percent of the new cases of lead poisoning in New York State in 2005 (outside of New York City) occurred in only about 1% of the state's 1600 zip codes. In fact, the Department of Health has even more detailed information that can help target prevention efforts to neighborhood areas much smaller than zip codes in order to assure cost efficiency.
Local efforts in Rochester (Monroe County) have shown that large numbers of units in high risk areas can be inspected using streamlined protocols for visual inspections that are followed with simple dust-wipe sampling procedures in the very highest risk areas. Since Rochester's local lead paint law went into effect in July of 2006, nearly 28,000 units of housing have been inspected. The Rochester efforts have also shown that housing can be made lead safe for costs far lower than many municipalities and counties had previously believed to be the case. New incidents of lead poisoning in Monroe County have dropped by 65% since increased awareness programs began in 2002, followed by the new inspection requirements.
Click on the links below to view support letters from the following government officials, agencies, educators, physicians and others:
Additional letters (copies unavailable) have been sent to the Governor by:
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League of Women Voters/N.Y.S.
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Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks
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National Plant & Coating Association
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New York Public Interest Research Group
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NYSTLA - NYS Trial Lawyer Association
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Rochester City School District
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Schuyler Center
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Sierra Club/Atlantic Chapter
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Utica Mayor David Roefaro
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US Dep't of Housing and Urban Development
Other organizations supporting of the bill:
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Holy Cross Head Start, Buffalo
