EPA Funds Efforts to Beat Childhood Lead Poisoning

The EPA's mid-Atlantic region has awarded a $100,000 grant to George Washington University's Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment, MACCHE, to work to reduce lead poisoning in the District of Columbia.

MACCHE will introduce an innovative holistic home visit program to the District using a modified pediatric environmental home assessment tool consisting of two components - a survey to identify potential hazards, and the action plan to address the lead hazards.

The goal is not to duplicate existing efforts, but to collaborate with community organizations to combine existing resources, knowledge and tools that will produce lead-free homes for District residents.

Housing built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. (Photo courtesy Crawford County Health Dept.)

At the conclusion of this project, MACCHE will have a DC-specific home visit tool that can be used by several organizations in the District.

High blood levels of lead can cause permanent damage to the nervous system and widespread health problems, such as a reduced intelligence and attention span, hearing loss, stunted growth, reading and learning problems and behavioral difficulties. Young children are most vulnerable because their nervous systems are still developing.

In Philadelphia, the EPA's mid-Atlantic region has awarded a $63,572 grant to the National Nursing Centers Consortium to develop a newborn referral database and to provide outreach for newborn babies in Philadelphia.

Lead poisoning in Philadelphia remains one of the most dangerous environmental threats to children, despite the fact that it is completely preventable, the EPA said in a statement announcing the grant.

Philadelphia's younger children in low-income families and in old, poorly maintained housing stock are at the greatest risk for lead poisoning.

Low-income residents occupy nearly 95 percent of Philadelphia's dwelling units built before 1950. The average number of live births in Philadelphia between 1999 and 2002 was 21,373 yet only 2,000 caregivers of newborns receive lead prevention outreach each year.

A study conducted by the local Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program shows that between 15 and 25 percent of Philadelphia children do not receive basic screening for lead.

In some at-risk communities where linguistic and cultural barriers deter participation in available programs, services are perceived as scarce and unavailable.

The EPA grant will help the National Nursing Centers Consortium develop a referral database and implement a referral and follow-up strategy for reaching the hardest-to-access populations in Philadelphia. The consortium will provide outreach in the language and cultural method most helpful to specific ethnic groups.

EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds projects in areas with high incidences of children with elevated blood-lead levels in vulnerable populations. In 2007, the agency awarded more than $5 million in grants under this program.

For more information about EPA's lead program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD.

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