July 3, 2003 Article from the Albany Times Union

Lead-poisoning study spurs call for change Albany-- Sen. Charles Schumer says level that is considered dangerous should be lower   By CLAIRE HUGHES, Staff writer First published: Thursday, July 3, 2003 One in five children who were tested for lead poisoning in three Capital Region counties may be at risk for brain damage due to high levels of exposure, according to a recent study that places a lower threshold on the levels of lead considered dangerous. According to an April article in the New England Journal of Medicine, as little as five micrograms per deciliter of lead in the blood may be linked to brain damage. That's half the amount currently considered dangerous by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer called for the CDC to lower the lead level considered risky and to increase from $30 million to $500 million the annual federal funding available to address the problem. "I think we could find this small amount given how important it is," Schumer said. Since last fall, a CDC work group has been reviewing studies on lead levels in the blood, said Susan McClure of the agency's National Center for Environmental Health. The work group is expected to report its findings this fall to an advisory committee, which could then determine if the evidence supports changing the 10 micrograms per deciliter standard. Using the current threshold, one in 20 children tested for lead levels in Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties were at risk for health problems in 2002, according to state Health Department data. The primary sources of lead exposure are lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust found in deteriorating buildings, according to the CDC. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems and -- at very high levels -- seizures, coma and death. City residents in Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning because many of their homes were built before 1940, when lead paint was in regular use. In Schenectady County alone, 37,000 homes are old enough to have some lead in them, said Dr. Russell Fricke, the county's health commissioner. Schumer said local governments receive inadequate funding to make sure residents are not exposed to dangerous levels of lead. Of the $30 million distributed by CDC last year, just $800,000 went to local governments statewide -- $700,000 of it going to New York City, he said. Even the increased funding that Schumer has called for would be insufficient to enable counties to monitor homes for lead poisoning effectively, Fricke said. Because many of the city of Schenectady's older homes are owned by absentee landlords who can be difficult to track down, the best way to monitor lead exposure would be to inspect each house at least once a year. That would require increasing his staff of seven inspectors to about 70, he said. "The money is nowhere near what it would need to be," he said. Currently, Schenectady County will send inspectors to a home where a child has been determined to have lead levels of 20 micrograms per deciliter, Fricke said. Albany County will send inspectors to any home where a child lives and parents are concerned about lead exposure, County Executive Michael Breslin said. The inspections have been a liability problem for the county, however. In the last three years, Albany County has paid more than $4.1 million to families who claimed inspectors wrongly certified their homes as being safe. Parents are encouraged to have their children tested for lead levels. The blood tests are recommended at 1 and 2 years old, said Terry Stortz, prevention team supervisor for Saratoga County Public Health. Some doctors do not recommend the test for people who live in newer homes, however, following guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Anne Erling of Albany had her 16-month-old daughter, Amelia, tested four months ago, but the results -- 4 micrograms per deciliter -- haven't completely reassured her. The 37-year-old mother, who lives in a home built in 1929, stays up on the latest articles on lead poisoning, which often make conflicting claims about the levels that are safe. On Wednesday, she was concerned that Amelia's level was so close to 5 micrograms per deciliter, but not sure what to make of it. "I don't feel like there's any standard that I've heard that I can rely on," Erling said.