(This is an article from EIT Supply, we are suppliers of DIY home testing kits including Lead Testing Kits)
Kids are being poisoned at an alarming rate
This is Yankee Stadium. Imagine each seat being filled with a 1-5 year old. Now imagine 10 Yankee Stadiums lined up next to each other with each seat filled with a 1-5 year old.
(Yankee Stadium: Capacity 52,325)
CDC estimates that there are 535,000 children ages 1-5 with elevated levels of lead in their blood. With so much terrible news and so many shocking statistics surfacing everyday, it becomes hard to really put statistics like this into perspective. It is truly alarming how many children are affected, and it is incredibly saddening to know that it is preventable.
Lead in paint is quite possibly a much bigger issue than lead in water
There are an estimated 2,133,000 homes in America that contain both an interior lead dust hazard and a child under 6 years old.
Fox43 notes that “according to the Department of Health report, Lebanon’s lead exposure rate is 12.99 percent, York is 12.41 percent, Harrisburg is 12.16 percent, and Lancaster is 11.03 percent. The rate indicates the percentage of tested children age 7 or younger who had unsafe levels of lead in their blood. Essentially, the study says one in every eight or nine children in these cities has levels of lead in their blood which should be addressed by a healthcare professional.”
John Oliver does a great job in portraying the fact that although the Flint Water Crisis caused national outrage, lead in paint should be stirring up more controversy. Lead in paint and paint dust is a far more common way for children to be exposed to lead, and needs to be looked at in the same light as lead in water.
Fixing the lead paint problem is a costly endeavor, but one that can result in a lot of positive change. A study by EHP stated that for every dollar invested in lead paint hazard control, results in a return of $17-$221
The study by the EHP can be found here. In summary, it reports the following:
Background:
This study is a cost–benefit analysis that quantifies the social and economic benefits to household lead paint hazard control compared with the investments needed to minimize exposure to these hazards.
Objectives:
This research updates estimates of elevated blood lead levels among a cohort of children ≤ 6 years of age and compiles recent research to determine a range of the costs of lead paint hazard control ($1–$11 billion) and the benefits of reduction attributed to each cohort for health care ($11–$53 billion), lifetime earnings ($165–$233 billion), tax revenue ($25–$35 billion), special education ($30–$146 million), attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder ($267 million), and the direct costs of crime ($1.7 billion).
Results:
Each dollar invested in lead paint hazard control results in a return of $17–$221 or a net savings of $181–269 billion.
Conclusions:
There are substantial returns to investing in lead hazard control, particularly targeted at early intervention in communities most likely at risk. Given the high societal costs of inaction, lead hazard control appears to be well worth the price.
When the topic of remediation and abatement comes up, people are quick to point to the exorbitant cost behind it. Aside from the immense good that it will do for the well-being of millions of people, there will actually also be literal ROI involved. If nothing else, this information is a great point to dispel the feasibility argument, and red tape politics around fixing this incredibly serious problem.
Lead poisoning is a big issue in America, and we need to be doing something about it. “If lead paint is so dangerous, why the f$&* is there so much of it in houses where kids live?”
That quote speaks for itself. Why is this happening? Why isn’t it a priority to fix it? Watch the video for yourself for more great points.
Find out if you have lead in your home
Tags: high levels of lead, lead exposure, lead exposure limits, lead in paint, lead in water, lead in water testing, lead paint, lead test, lead test swabs, lead testing kit, lead testing kits, test for lead, unsafe lead exposure