Illinois Legislature
Passes Landmark Lead Poisoning Prevention Legislation
On March 30, the Illinois Senate passed the Lead Poisoning
Prevention Act of 2006, a bill that takes a far more proactive approach to lead
poisoning prevention than past Illinois law and policy. The bill passed the
Illinois House unanimously in February.
Among other provisions, the bill, when signed into law
by the governor, will prohibit the use of lead in products children use, eat,
or wear; bar residential property owners who have knowingly failed to comply
with lead laws from doing any business with the State; require signage and/or
brochures about lead-safe work practices in stores where paint removal supplies
are sold; and add penalties for failure to comply with the law.
Anita Weinberg, Co-Chair of Lead Safe Illinois and Director
of Loyola University-Chicago’s ChildLaw Policy and Legislation Program
said, “Unlike the causes of so many social problems, we know how to defeat
this problem. This legislation is an important step in protecting our children
from dangerous lead hazards and eliminating childhood lead poisoning by the
year 2010.”
Death of Minneapolis
Child Prompts Call for Consumer Product Lead Ban
Congressman, Senators, and others joined with advocates
in calling for a ban of nonessential uses of lead in consumer products, especially
products used by children, after a 4-year-old boy in Minneapolis died on February
22 after accidentally ingesting a charm from a bracelet that came as a free
gift with Reebok shoes. The child’s blood lead level reached 180 micrograms
per deciliter, 18 times the level at which a child’s blood lead level
is considered “elevated.”
Following the boy’s death, the Consumer Product Safe
Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of the charm bracelets, and Reebok complied,
recalling 300,000 pieces. CPSC points to this recall and other recent actions
pulling lead-laden metal jewelry off the market as evidence that its enforcement
strategies are effective. Others, however, stress the importance to keep lead
out of consumer products in the first place, in order to ensure that no other
child in America dies from lead poisoning.
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and Representative Henry Waxman
(D-CA) wrote to the CSPC on Thursday, demanding that the agency “take
more proactive steps to reduce, if not ban, children’s products that contain
lead.”
Mary Jean Brown, chief of the CDC’s Lead Poisoning
Prevention Branch, echoed their concerns, saying, “Nonessential uses of
lead, including lunchboxes and children’s jewelry, should be controlled
or eliminated before children are poisoned.” Brown added, “I’m
not in a position to dictate what the CPSC should do, but this stuff should
be eliminated.”
The charm involved in the boy’s death was found to
be 99 percent lead. Testing on other charms found some that contained up to
67 percent lead. CPSC says that children’s jewelry should contain no more
than 0.06 percent lead.
Ohio
Supreme Court Orders Release of Lead Hazard Citation Records
In a victory for good government and lead poisoning prevention
advocates, the Ohio Supreme Court on March 17 ordered the Cincinnati Health
Department to release lead hazard citations to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The decision follows two years of legal wrangling between
the department and the newspaper, with the paper asserting that lead hazard
citations are public records and thus are subject to Ohio’s open records
law, and the health department countering that release of such records would
make it possible to identify lead poisoned children by name, which would violate
the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
The Ohio high court’s opinion is the first of its
kind in the nation. While it only affects city and state health departments
in Ohio, other states’ courts could look to the opinion when making their
own decisions. Lead poisoning prevention advocates say that this is important,
because some state and local health departments have in the past improperly
restricted access to lead hazard citation records under an incorrect interpretation
of HIPAA.
In June 2004, the Alliance published a guide for health
departments and others to assist in navigating HIPAA and avoiding confusion
over the law. In the guide, Overcoming Barriers to Data-Sharing Related
to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the Alliance identified and explained the very
issue that was in question before the Ohio Supreme Court: “A documented
lead-based paint hazard or code violation in a given property is a physical
condition that exists in the property completely independently of the property’s
occupancy or the health status of its occupants. As such, data pertaining...to
physical conditions in a property do not qualify as protected health information
when cited or released apart from health data. For example, a list of addresses
of properties that have been cited for code violations or found to contain lead
hazards does not constitute protected health information—regardless of
whether the agency that documented the problem is a covered entity or not and
regardless of the impetus for the inspection. Similarly, covered entities can
release the names of the owners of such properties without impediment from the
Privacy Rule.”
Alliance
Presented with EPA Children’s Environmental Health Recognition Award
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has presented
the Alliance for Healthy Homes with a 2006 Children’s Environmental Health
Recognition Award. The Agency’s Recognition Awards honor organizations
and individuals for their accomplishments in protecting children from environmental
health risks. EPA presented the award for the work the Alliance has done through
its Community Environmental Health Resource Center (CEHRC) project.
Proposed
EPA R&R Rule Comment Period Extended to May 25
The public comment period for the proposed EPA lead-safe
remodeling, renovation, and painting rule has been extended until May 25. All
healthy homes and lead poisoning prevention advocates who have not yet submitted
comments to the docket are urged to do so. To submit comments, visit www.regulations.gov,
select “Environmental Protection Agency” as the agency in the drop
down, and type the word “renovation” into the keyword field. Hit
return, and then select the left-most link "Docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2005-0049.”
Changes to the rule that advocates should recommend include:
(1) The use of uncontrolled power sanding, open flame burning, methylene chloride
chemicals, and other dangerous methods to disturb painted surfaces must be prohibited;
(2) All renovation workers and painters must receive real training; (3) Post-work
clearance testing must be required after high-risk renovation work; (4) Enforcement
must be adequately funded and authorized at all levels of government; (5) There
must be no exemptions from requirements, and especially not in homes where a
child has been poisoned and homes where no child resides on the day of the renovation
work; and (6) Property owners and occupants must be provided with clear and
health-protective information. For more information about the rule, including
comments and concerns about the rule as raised by several working groups, see
www.afhh.org/aa/aa_hh_policy_national_policy_eparandr.htm.
Pesticide
Risk to Infants Greater than Previously Thought
A study published in the March issue of Pharmacogenetics
and Genomics raises new questions about pesticide exposure to infants.
The study showed that newborn babies have a much greater susceptibility to the
dangers of pesticides than previously thought.
At a minimum, the study’s findings showed that infants
are 65 times more sensitive to pesticides than adults, and some infants with
certain genetic differences can be as much as 130 times more sensitive.
Researchers studied 130 Hispanic women and their newborns
living in the Salinas Valley of California, where people are regularly exposed
to organophosphate pesticides used in agriculture. One of the pesticides involved
in the study, chlorpyrifos, was recently banned for most home and other indoor
uses.
Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
mandates a tenfold extra safety standard for pesticides where children’s
susceptibility is unknown. The study’s authors stated that their results
indicate a need for more research into the EPA standard to determine if it is
protective enough, especially for newborns who are the most sensitive to pesticide
exposures.
Boston Launches
“Breathe Easy at Home” Program to Help Children with Asthma
In early March, Boston launched the “Breathe Easy
at Home” program in its Inspectional Services Department. The program
was created to help children with asthma by addressing certain housing conditions
that may trigger symptoms and full-blown asthma attacks. The launch is especially
timely given a recent study showing that one in seven adults and children in
New England have doctor-diagnosed asthma.
The program aims to improve access and communication among
medical homes for children with asthma, public health agencies, and housing
agencies within the City of Boston. A collaborative effort involving several
city agencies and area organizations—including the Inspectional Services
Department's Housing Inspection Division, Boston Medical Center, Boston Public
Health Commission, Boston Urban Asthma Coalition, Bowdoin St Neighborhood Health
Center, and Asthma Regional Council of New England—“Breathe Easy
at Home” will seek to ensure that inspections, where warranted, are performed
quickly and follow up inspections are performed to make sure substandard housing
conditions are resolved.
The innovative program will track children through the
inspection, violation preparation, reinspection, and housing court systems to
improve communication between medical, public health, and housing sectors to
help reduce substandard housing conditions, which in turn should help to make
asthmatic children healthier.
Researchers at Michigan State University say that a toxin
from common “black mold” can kill nerve cells in the nasal passages
of mice, damaging the animals’ sense of smell. The researchers’
study was published in Environmental Health Perspectives in March.
Michigan State professor Jack Harkema said, “Essentially,
this toxin is killing off the cells needed for the sense of smell. This is the
first animal study to really show that a toxin derived from the spores of ‘black
mold’ [Stachybotrys chartarum] may cause significant damage in
the nose and the front part of the brain” involved in being able to smell.
Further study is needed to determine if similar effects
from exposure to the mold toxin could occur in humans.
Lead
Exposure, Stress Interaction Can Cause Cognitive Difficulties in Adults
New findings presented at a March meeting of the Society
of Toxicology indicate that stresses that can be associated with urban life
can interact with lead released from bones in adults who were exposed to the
toxic heavy metal as children to cause cognitive difficulties later in life.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore
measured the level of a certain stress hormone in a sample of adults from neighborhoods
with higher crime, more 911 calls, and a higher number of abandoned vehicles
and found that these people had higher levels of the hormone, known as cortisol,
in their systems than people in a control group. Though the exact nature of
the interaction is still unknown, higher levels of cortisol in adults with higher
lifelong lead exposures led to lower scores on a series of seven cognitive tests
given to participants in the study.
Thomas Glass, one of the researchers in the study, said
that the results point to another lifelong negative impact of lead exposure
from lead-based paint and other sources. He stated, “This is a question
of exposure legacy. Some part of age-related cognitive decline may be the shadow
of childhood lead exposure.”
Get Involved in World
Asthma Day and Asthma Awareness Month
May 2 is Annual World Asthma Day, and May is Asthma Awareness
Month. To help support groups and agencies raise asthma awareness, EPA has developed
an Event Planning Kit, an Asthma Awareness Month Web page, and Event Listing
forms.
The Event Planning Kit is a free resource for community
organizers, health care providers, school nurses, teachers, and anyone committed
to raising awareness about asthma triggers and their management. The Kit includes
ideas and tips on organizing events in schools, hospitals, clinics, libraries,
and state capitols, and provides sample proclamations, letters to the editor,
and other resources to make it easier to organize outreach events.
Those planning asthma awareness events can also get free
publicity through EPA. Groups should let the Agency know what they plan to do
during Asthma Awareness Month, and EPA will publicize the events on its national
Web site. A link from the Asthma Awareness Month Web page directs users to an
online event listing form where groups can enter information about their planned
events. EPA’s Web site includes a map that shows the Asthma Awareness
Month activities planned in each state.
Visit www.epa.gov/asthma/awm.html
for more information and resources, including the Event Planning Kit and the
online event listing form.
Study Uncovers
Link Between Childhood Asthma and Secondhand Smoke
A study presented at a March meeting of the American Academy
of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology suggests that childhood exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke (ETS), also known as secondhand smoke, may be linked to the development
of childhood asthma.
Dr. Deborah Gentile of the Allegheny General Hospital in
Pittsburgh found that in children aged one to six who were exposed to ETS, higher
levels of T-helper lymphocytes, a specialized immune system cell, were circulating
in the blood. This type of T-cell produces a chemical known as interleukin-13,
which has been linked to the development of asthma. Gentile said that her study
suggests that early-life ETS exposure could put children at greater risk of
developing asthma later on in childhood.
Though it is difficult to successfully quit smoking, Gentile
said that her study is “one more weapon for doctors to hand to parents
in the prevention of asthma.”
Workgroup
Report Highlights Need for Research on Indoor Chemical Interactions and Health
In the March issue of Environmental Health Perspectives,
the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s National Occupational
Research Agenda indoor environment team presented a report from a 2004 workshop
called “Indoor Chemistry and Health.” The workshop illustrated several
important points about chemical interactions in the home and other indoor environments
and their impact on human health.
Workshop participants confirmed some things about indoor
chemistry that are already known. A variety of substances interact, either as
gases or on surfaces within the home, which can change the concentration of
both the chemicals that are reacting and the chemicals that are produced from
the reaction. Some of these chemicals are known to aggravate allergies and asthma,
cause respiratory tract irritation, and can cause burning or itching eyes. Other
substances involved in indoor chemical reactions can have cardiovascular effects,
and some may even cause cancer.
Despite all that is known, the indoor environment team
also stressed that more research is critical. Studies that delve deeper into
exposures, tissue irritation, and allergies and asthma are among the priority
research needs identified in the workshop.
EPA’s Community Action for a Renewed Environment
(CARE) program is a competitive grant program that offers an innovative way
for communities to take action to reduce toxic pollution. Through CARE, communities
create local collaborative partnerships that evaluate and prioritize toxic risks
in the community and implement strategies to reduce releases of and exposure
to toxic pollutants, including those that exist indoors. CARE educates and supports
communities by helping them assess the pollution risks they face while also
providing funding and access to EPA's and other voluntary programs to address
local environmental priorities. The deadline to apply is April 10. For more
information, visit www.epa.gov/aging/grants/2006_0210_grant_4.htm.
HUD’s FY 2006 SuperNOFA, including grant programs
in healthy homes and lead hazard control, is now open for applications. The
SuperNOFA includes $14.6 million in Operation LEAP funds, $84.9 million for
lead hazard control grants, $59.6 million for lead demonstration grants, $4.85
million for lead and healthy homes technical studies, $2 million for lead outreach
grants, and $4.37 million for healthy homes demonstration grants. All healthy
homes and lead hazard control grant applications are due in early June. Information
on applying for these and other HUD FY06 grants can be found at www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm#grants.
Upcoming Conferences
The 38th National Conference on Radiation Control will
take place May 5-10 in Detroit, MI. Sponsored by the Conference of Radiation
Control Program Directors, Inc. (CRCPD), the conference will feature six days
of meetings, workshops, trainings, and other events related to a broad range
of radiation science issues, including 2 sessions on radon mitigation. For more
information and online registration, visit www.crcpd.org/06NatnlConfRadControl.asp.
The 2006 Affordable Comfort Home Performance Conference
will be held May 22-26 in Austin, TX. The conference will cover a variety of
important topics related to healthy homes and indoor environmental health, including
ventilation, proper moisture control, and energy efficiency. For more information,
visit www.affordablecomfort.org/events.php?EventID=15.
The National Conference on Asthma and Lead Poisoning will
be held May 22 in Saginaw, MI (this reflects a scheduling change, from a multi-day
conference to a one-day conference). The conference will feature a variety of
topics, including residential asthma triggers, best practices to minimize housing-related
risk factors for asthma and lead poisoning, low-literacy community-based intervention
methods, bilingual intervention programs, healthy homes initiatives, and more.
The conference is designed for healthy homes advocates, public health officials,
academics, federal and state legislative staff, and representatives from funders
with an interest in lead poisoning and asthma. For more information, visit www.fni.org/leadandasthma.asp.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
is hosting a state lead meeting on June 12. Titled “Childhood Lead Poisoning:
Lead Exposure: Questions Answered,” the meeting will feature keynote speaker
Mary Jean Brown, Chief of CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch. For
more information, contact Nisha Jani at janini@umdnj.edu
or 973-972-7398.
The Ohio Department of Health is sponsoring its 13th Ohio
Lead Poisoning Prevention Conference June 20-22 in Columbus. The featured speakers
and exhibitors will be from local, state, and national levels. The conference
goal is to educate healthcare and environmental professionals, parents, and
community leaders about the current medical, environmental, and programmatic
issues of childhood lead poisoning prevention in Ohio. Continuing education
units may be offered for nurses, sanitarians, and social workers. For more information,
E-mail bcfhs@odh.ohio.gov
or call Barbara Kochli Nixon at 937-285-6261.
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