INC NEWS - LEAD SAFETY

[Ken Gasch]

If your home was built prior to 78' it probably contains lead hazards.  We
had our home tested when our baby boy was less than a year old.  Lorisa
Seibel did the test and she found lead paint on our windows and doors, which
were both peeling in spots.  We had our boy tested for lead and he did not
have elevated levels of lead in his blood.  Thank God.  We were able to
properly encapsulate the hazards with Lorisa's advice.  My beautiful wife
and I consider ourselves to be reasonably well informed parents.  We were
ignorant and it could have resulted in permanent brain damage to our son.
Additional info and follow-up on PEACH and Lead Safety from Lenora Smith is
forwarded below.  Please consider sharing this info with your neighborhood
lists and/or printing a piece about lead safety (possibly even in Spanish)
in your neighborhood newsletters.  -Ken Gasch

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Lead Info:
Lead is as much a social problem as a health problem. In addition to causing
brain damage, kidney damage and lower math and reading scores, lead is
associated with violence and crime. Minority and low income children are
disproportionately at risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the rates of African-American infants with elevated blood lead
levels were three times that of white infants.  The only way to know if a
child has
been exposed to lead is to have their blood lead level tested. The Durham
County Health
Department can provide free blood tests for children under 6.


PEACH
Partnership Effort for the Advancement of Children's Health (PEACH) is a
lead-based paint awareness and lead poisoning prevention 501C3 non profit.
We provide lead poisoning prevention presentations for community groups,
church organizations, PTA's, schools, and other caretakers of children. We
will come to your home to collect lead dust samples.  We will assist
residents with completing applications for the city lead hazard control
program. Please call our office if you would like more information.  The
office phone number is 682-1300.

City Lead Hazard Control Program
Beginning November 2005, the City of Durham allocated funding to allow lead
remediation activities to occur in qualified housing units within the Durham
City/County area.  The Department of Community Development is responsible
for administering the lead program for the City.



Deteriorating lead paint may contribute to lead poisoning, especially in
children under the age of six.  Lead hazard reduction may consist of various
measures to insure integrity of the lead painted surfaces at your home and
may include such practices as cleaning, repainting, enclosing surfaces,
removing and replacing windows and or doors, or other methods designed to
protect you and your family from dangers of hazardous lead paint.  This work
may require that you be relocated for a short period.  The City will provide
accommodations at no expense to you.

There are no regulatory requirements in the State of North Carolina to test
for, or remove lead painted surfaces in residences, unless a lead poisoned
child is living in the home.


Lenora S. Smith
Project Director
Partnership Effort for the Advancement
of Children's Health/ClearCorps (PEACH/CC)
1001 N. Roxboro St.
Durham, NC 27701
919-308-6914






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