Lead Poisoning Remains a Major Concern for America’s Most Vulnerable Inhabitants
Imagine you are sitting in a diner one cold winter morning. There is a hot cup of coffee or tea between your hands. You reach over to grab one of the small packets of sugar. You barely feel it in your hand. The packet weighs just one gram. That single gram is many times more than the federal hazard level for lead exposure in children. Here’s what I mean.
If you spread that one gram of lead equally across 100 rooms, each 10 feet by 10 feet, each space would still be 2x the federal standard for hazardous lead levels.
Lead is a natural heavy metal. It has no smell and it can exist in the environment and manufactured products while being invisible to the naked eye. Most importantly, lead is poisonous to the brain and is especially toxic to children. The Maryland Department of the Environment warns that “the major source of exposure for children is lead paint dust from deteriorated lead paint or from home renovation.”
The CDC Estimates 500,000 Children Have Lead Poisoning
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are no safe lead levels and as a child’s exposure increases, so do the chances of that child’s being afflicted by severe adverse side effects.
Even low levels of lead exposure, once thought to be safe by doctors and researchers, have now been linked to impaired intelligence, significant losses in IQ points, emotional instability, and a rise in violent and criminal behavior. Extreme exposure can even lead to death.
Lead-exposed children will have to deal with the effects of their lead poisoning for the rest of their lives. The brain injury caused by lead not only impacts the individual, but also entire families, who often struggle with finding the right educational and social environments for their children. The brain injuries caused by lead poisoning are incurable, causing a life-long burden innocent victims have to bear.
In 2014 (the last time numbers are available), the CDC estimated that more than 500,000 children had elevated blood lead levels. It is an absolutely staggering number.
We here at The Yost Legal Group understand the severity of this issue all too well. Baltimore has been a hotbed for lead-related issues. The old housing stock (from before the use of lead-based paint was criminalized) and a wide gap in socio-economic equality put many children at risk.
From the firm, Samuel R. Pulver, Esq. said, “It is always important when people are made aware of the serious consequences lead poisoning has on society even to this day.”
He went on: “Lead has a disproportionate impact on Baltimore’s residents. The dangers of lead poisoning impact our most vulnerable inhabitants, children.”
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with lead poisoning and lived in an older or poorly maintained home, you may have a case. Call the Yost Legal Group at 1-800-YOST-LAW for a free initial consultation with our expert lead poisoning attorney. We will help you find the answers. There is no expense unless you recover.