News Coverage
Ohio lags in lead detection, study says
State's kids at risk, D.C.-group says
Published May 3, 2004
The state of Ohio fails to detect two-thirds of the children who have lead poisoning, according to a study by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group.
"There are an estimated 19,000 children with lead poisoning in Ohio," said Arianne Callender, general counsel for EWG.
The highest incidence of lead poisoning is in Ohio's major cities, according to the group.
The Environmental Working Group collected data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the Ohio Department of Health, and then made county estimates using U.S. census figures for the number of children in each county.
One of the primary causes of lead poisoning is from lead paint, which children ingest or inhale. Although paint containing lead is no longer manufactured, some older houses still have woodwork and walls covered with lead paint.
Lead poisoning causes permanent, irreversible damage, including lowering IQ scores as much as seven points, according to Dr. Bruce Lanphear, director of the Children's Environmental Health Center at the University of Cincinnati.
"We have been waiting until a child has developed lead poisoning before we act," Lanphear said. "That makes no sense."
Research at the University of Cincinnati show that lead causes damage at levels previously thought to be safe.
Leann Howell learned the dangers of lead contamination seven years ago when her son Julian was diagnosed with the disease.
"We moved into a 200-year-old farm house in Perry County and there were dozens of layers of old paint," said Howell, who is still trying to assess the damage done to her son.
Just 10 percent of the children in Montgomery County have been screened for lead poisoning, according to the Environmental Working Group.
The report estimates there are 996 children with lead poisoning in Montgomery County, 387 in Butler County, 269 in Clark County, 156 in Greene County, 128 in Miami County, and 110 in Warren County.
"In no cases around the state have more than 30 percent been screened," Callender said.