Added Assault on Lead Poisoning

A poison to the nervous systems of children exists in many pre-1950s homes in California; the pestilent substance is lead. Once thought to be a hazard only to impoverished toddlers who nibbled paint chips in decaying homes, lead is now known to be far more pervasive. In metropolitan areas particularly, it is often found in the innocuous-looking dust that creeps into homes and onto windowsills and table tops, as well as in the soil in home gardens. At low levels, lead poisoning can cause irritability, sleeping irregularities and learning disabilities. At long-term higher levels, it can result in mental retardation, cerebral palsy and death. Lead poisoning is the most common environmental health risk for children.

A bill by Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly (D-Sacramento) would extend and beef up the state’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. The program has been working to quantify the extent of the problem in California. Studies among high-risk children, typically low-income toddlers living in old housing, found that one-fifth of those tested in Southern and Northern California had enough lead in their systems to cause health problems. To make the situation even more critical, the federal Centers for Disease Control during the past several years has continuously lowered the “danger level” for all children as medical studies yield more information about the toxicity of lead. Mounting evidence now suggests there is no safe level of lead exposure for children under the age of six.

The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program has not yet had the opportunity to screen high-risk children in the Central Valley. The bill would give the program additional time and modest funds ($140,000 the first year, approximately $250,000 per year for three years) to complete the screenings. In addition, the program would encourage physicians through a major education campaign to do blood tests to screen for lead poisoning. Another important provision of the bill deals with lead paint. Although paint no longer contains lead, old leaded paints still coat the surfaces of many of the state’s fine California bungalows, Victorians and Spanish-style stucco homes. Renovation of such homes would likely emit large amounts of hazardous dust. But at present there are no guidelines for renovators. Under the new bill, the state could adopt regulations governing how the lead in the environment could be better controlled.

The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is a reasonable step toward minimizing the effects of a largely avoidable hazard to children throughout the state. The key to doing that is early detection of lead poisoning: In its early stages, the symptoms are easily confused with other less dangerous illnesses. Lead poisoning has no magic cure, but it can be prevented and checked from further degeneration into debilitating and life-threatening illness. The Legislature has recognized this through its approval of AB 219. We strongly urge Gov. George Deukmejian to sign it.