CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING

 Lead is a major crippler of our children. With its special affinity for the nervous system, lead can destroy a young child's potential cognitive development long before he or she ever reaches school. We have known for some time that heavy lead exposure was associated with reduced cognitive abilities, lower I.Q. scores, slowed reaction times and memory problems. New evidence has surfaced that shows that very low levels of lead exposure (much lower than once thought) can cause significant learning disabilities without any overt signs of lead poisoning.

Lead is an especially insidious environmental toxin. Lead stored during a woman's lifetime and her pregnancy can be transferred to a developing fetus¾a fact that has led some scientists to designate lead poisoning the first environmental disease that is heritable. Children and fetuses are especially susceptible because their absorption rate is much higher than that of adults. Lead silently accumulates in the body (especially in the bones). As a result, it can continue to cause effects that endure long after exposure has ended. These characteristics of lead make it imperative to aggressively protect children from exposure during the earliest stages of their development.

Year after year federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency have collected compelling and overwhelming evidence of the threat of lead to our children. Yet, the commitment of resources and initiative to end this epidemic has generally flagged.

WHEREAS, lead poisoning compromises the lives and well-being of nearly 3 million children in this country; and

WHEREAS, lead poisoning touches the lives of children in every socioeconmic group with one out of every six children aged seven or younger suffering from its effects; and

WHEREAS, poor children and minority children are disproportionately affected. In the central cities of our large urban areas, it is estimated that 70 percent of poor black (African American) and Hispanic children and 35 percent of white children are at risk of lead toxicity; and

WHEREAS, most children who are lead poisoned are never screened or identified; and

WHEREAS, lead-exposed children start life with a significant disadvantage. A recent prospective study found that children with moderately elevated lead levels in early childhood exhibited a six-fold increase in reading disabilities, a seven-fold increase in high school dropout rates and lower overall standing in high school; and

WHEREAS, even low blood lead levels (10-15 ug/dl) can shackle children with learning disabilities, reduced ability to concentrate, behavioral disorders and problems with short-term memory; and

WHEREAS, the price tag of childhood lead poisoning is high in loss of human potential and other resources. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that every year we lose billions of dollars to this insidious disease in medical care costs, special education and institutionalization and life-time earnings; and

WHEREAS, this tragic lead epidemic is completely preventable:

RESOLVED, that the U.S. federal government increase childhood lead poisoning prevention activities including efforts to increase surveillance and screening; and

RESOLVED, that AFT support the immediate passage of:

•  the Reauthorization of the National Affordable Housing Act-Title X-Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction;
• Lead Contamination Control Act of 1991: H.R. 2840; and
• Lead-Based Paint Abatement Trust Fund Act: H.R. 2922.