By Scott Sieber
The question: What's one of the biggest misconceptions when dealing with lead poisoning?After giving the question some thought, Smith said the biggest misunderstanding has less to do with lead, and more to do with the myth that all young children, seemingly like cats to antifreeze, have some sort of insatiable sweet tooth for lead-based paint chips.In an effort to inform Queens landlords and tenants about the dangers of lead poisoning, Smith spoke to a small audience of local officials at the Elmhurst Hospital Center about the facts and dangers of lead poisoning.”Kids don't eat paint chips,” he said. “If you've got a kid sitting in the corner chewing on paint chips, you've got a bigger problem.”Smith's words are half-true, which he conceded, as children have done it before and eating lead-based paint chips can certainly be harmful, but it is not one of the more common methods of acquiring lead poisoning, despite popular opinion. Lead-based contaminants are most commonly found in dust from deteriorating paint or even from outside, he said. In children, the most well-known form of contraction occurs when they place their hands on a window sill, where friction has created lead-based dust.The issue of lead-poisoning became a hot button issue in August, 2004 with the advent of NYC Local Law 1. The law requires all building owners of multiple dwellings to investigate lead-based hazards and remedy units where children under 7 years old or pregnant women live.”It's a health issue. The city isn't going to (force) landlords to do a lead abatement because they know it can't be done,” he said. “Landlords would walk away from the buildings left and right. It's trying to make the landlords be proactive and take care of the problem.”Julius Wilson of the Health Department said that dwellings built prior to 1978 have a chance of containing lead-based paint. Tenants worried about possible violations of the law should voice their complaints to 311.Smith added that lead-poisoning is most dangerous to children under 7 because, at that age, the central nervous system is still in a period of rapid development, making it susceptible to permanent damage. “And that's something a lot of people don't know,” he said. “At higher levels, you can have permanent brain damage.”Side effects run the gamut, he said, from learning disabilities like Attention Deficit Disorder to death.Prevention is easy, said Smith. Daily housekeeping can serve as the best deterrent for lead poisoning. In homes with lead-based paint still on the walls, the dangers are greatly reduced, he said, but risk remains because “it does not take a lot of lead dust to be considered a contaminated area.”Members of the Health Department's Housing Education Services also attended Tuesday's seminar and mentioned that the department offers free educational seminars to the community.
