Lawsuit Seeks Tests for Lead in Children : Health: Action claims state has not complied with federal mandate requiring free blood checks for all low-income youngsters under age 6.

Saying that up to 50,000 California youths may unknowingly suffer from lead poisoning, environmental and civil rights groups charged in a lawsuit Thursday that state health officials have not provided mandatory tests for the condition on low-income children, the highest-risk group.

Attorneys for the California-based groups said in a Los Angeles news conference that the suit is the first in the nation seeking to force state health officials to comply with a 1989 federal law that requires free blood tests for lead poisoning for all low-income children under age 6.

The suit said lead poisoning from paint, smog, water pipes and ceramics is one of the most serious environmental diseases affecting America’s youth. Without treatment, it can lead to decreased intelligence, impaired motor functions, kidney disease and cancer, the suit says.

“This is an extraordinary case in which the environmental health, poverty and civil rights concerns represented here all dictate one result--that the state of California cannot continue to ignore the slow poisoning of our children by lead contamination,” said Joel R. Reynolds, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Connie Rice, representing the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, added: “As with most problems, minorities and the poor bear the brunt of this problem, and they are being needlessly contaminated while the state twiddles its thumbs.”

The class-action lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the state Department of Health Services and its director, Kenneth Kizer. The plaintiffs include a poverty rights group--People United for a Better Oakland--and two children ages 1 and 2 who are said to be eligible for the lead testing.

The coalition of interest groups joining to represent the plaintiffs includes the Legal Aid Society, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Health Law Program as well as the NAACP and natural resources council.

A health department spokesman said officials have not had time to review the suit thoroughly. But based on a “cursory look,” they consider themselves to be in compliance, he said.

Spokesman Norm Hartman said department officials did not believe they were required to test all children, only those for whom a doctor considered the test appropriate. He said the department already is providing blood tests for lead if they are medically indicated.

But the plaintiffs contend that Congress added a requirement to Medicaid statutes two years ago that all low-income children under age 6 be tested for lead poisoning and that youths between 6 and 21 be tested if they are in a high-risk category.

Sara Rosenbaum, spokeswoman for the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, said federal regulations have required those tests since 1967, but in 1989 testing was re-emphasized by Congress and added to federal statutes. Still, Rosenbaum said, less than a quarter of the eligible children nationwide receive the tests.

Nationally, health officials estimate that 3 million children--one in six--could be suffering from lead poisoning.

For that reason, Rice said, “We hope this suit will be a national model for others who seek to compel states to meet the desperate health care needs of their inner-city children.”

None of those involved in the issue could name a state that was in compliance. The testing is considered particularly important for low-income children because they are more likely to live near industrial centers or freeways where unsafe levels of lead are common, said Jane Perkins, an attorney with the National Health Law Program.

Rice said studies have found excessive levels of lead in the blood of 67% of black, inner-city children. She said the contamination rate for blacks is 33% higher than for white children.

Lead in the bloodstream adversely affects all people. But children, especially toddlers, are the most susceptible because of their developing tissue, said Dr. Ira H. Monoson in Santa Monica, former chief medical officer for Cal/OSHA.

Generally, health officials consider lead levels of more than 15 micrograms per deciliter of blood to be hazardous.

In early stages, lead poisoning is treatable with calcium and vitamin supplements, she said. At more advanced stages, the condition requires painful therapy, she said.

A state study this year on the dangers of lead poisoning in children estimated that 2,500 youths may be affected. That was enough to cause Kizer to say, “There is more of a problem than people thought there was.”

He added, “The biggest problem is the awareness, getting doctors to test kids.”

Several federal agencies--including the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services--are preparing a joint effort to address the problem of lead poisoning in children. Reports about the program are expected to be released soon.