Will Pres. Obama take action to keep kids safe from toxic lead?

Devestating. Untreatable. Entirely preventable.

It goes without saying there is no way to reverse the terrible damage that lead poisoning causes so prevention and early detection is key.

Yet, in Bucks County, 83% of children under three go untested for blood-lead levels–that’s the highest rate of untested infants and toddlers in the suburbs.  

Our new Left Out series of reports details the urgency of unscreened children in Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester counties.

Troublingly, children of color are most affected by exposure and poisoning. According to a 2004 CDC report, African American children are three times as likely to have high blood-lead levels and they and Latino children are likelier to live closer to battery recyclers, former industrial sites, highways, or live in older homes that are sources of high levels of lead.

“Lead exposure crises are flaring in communities across the country. The high levels of lead in water and soil in Flint, Philadelphia, and East Los Angeles are not stand-alone incidents,” said Lisa Garcia, Earthjustice’s Vice President for Healthy Communities.

A growing coalition of organizations across the country, including PCCY, is calling for President Obama’s Task Force on Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children to take immediate action:

• Strengthen standards and enforcement of EPA standards for lead in air, paint, dust, soil and drinking water.
• Dept. of Housing and Urban Development must update their policies and work to identify and remediate lead hazards before a child is harmed
  
• Ban all lead in children’s and household products
  
• Withdraw FDA approval for cosmetics and foods currently sold that contain lead
  
• Lower the Center for Disease Control’s definition of elevated blood lead levels to reflect that there is no safe threshold of lead exposure
  

Until policies on lead exposure reflect current science to better protect children and adequate resources are put in place to remediate lead-contaminated homes, lead poisoning will remain an insidious problem that harms children.

That’s why PCCY remains committed to keeping you up to date on lead action and issues that concern all families in Pennsylvania.

Save this date: On November 16, 2016, 10 AM, Philadelphia City Council will hold a public hearing at City Hall to discuss the challenges lead poisoning poses to Philadelphians.

You can help raise awareness of the threat of lead by retweeting this message and this one. It only takes two clicks but who knows how far our message will travel with your help!