Posted on Apr 11, 2022
Why do so many children in the Midwest have lead in their blood?
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According to the CDC, no amount of lead in a child's blood is safe, and children in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa have some of the highest levels in the nation.
Lead was banned in gasoline, residential paint and water pipes decades ago. But the toxin, known to be dangerous for centuries, still poisons thousands of children each year in the Midwest.
NPR's Midwest Newsroom and the Missouri Independent are investigating failures to eradicate lead poisoning, as well as its effects on families — particularly the Black and low-income families.
"We haven't put a whole lot of resources into actually eradicating the problem," said Allison Kite, data reporter for The Missouri Independent and Kansas Reflector. "Homes will often get remediated after a child is already tested with a high lead level instead of putting resources into preventing it from happening in the first place."
Lead was banned in gasoline, residential paint and water pipes decades ago. But the toxin, known to be dangerous for centuries, still poisons thousands of children each year in the Midwest.
NPR's Midwest Newsroom and the Missouri Independent are investigating failures to eradicate lead poisoning, as well as its effects on families — particularly the Black and low-income families.
"We haven't put a whole lot of resources into actually eradicating the problem," said Allison Kite, data reporter for The Missouri Independent and Kansas Reflector. "Homes will often get remediated after a child is already tested with a high lead level instead of putting resources into preventing it from happening in the first place."
Why do so many children in the Midwest have lead in their blood?
Posted from kcur.org
Hazmat
Children
Health
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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Milwaukee Wisconsin has an ongoing program to replace lead pipes leading to and in homes. Long overdue if you ask me
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There was a program to test paint in apartments in major cities at one point years ago and then it seemed to slip off the radar scope
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PO1 John Johnson
There still are such programs, albeit due to testing & remediation regulations and associated cost factors, public source funding is very hard to come by, and owner self-funding for testing & remediation is almost cost prohibitive unless you are Elon Musk. Testing in and off itself only shows that there is or is not a lead issue in any residential dwelling built prior to 1978's lead paint ban in residential properties. (Source: Me; Section 8 Supervisor, NorthWest Oregon Housing Authority, 20
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