Rhode Island Jury
Decides Lead Paint is a Public Nuisance and Pigment Makers Must Help Clean It
Up
On February 22, the State of Rhode Island achieved a major
victory in its landmark case against the lead industry. The state prevailed
on the central claim against three of the four defendants: that lead-based paint
in public and private buildings constitutes a public nuisance that threatens
the health of the state’s children, and said that NL Industries, Sherwin-Williams,
and Millenium Holdings (Glidden) bore responsibility for providing resources
to clean up lead paint hazards in the state. The jury cleared Atlantic Richfield,
the fourth defendant, of any wrongdoing.
The Rhode Island case hinged on the public nuisance claim,
and several similar suits across the country are also based on public nuisance.
A lawsuits filed by 22 counties and municipalities in New Jersey, and a suit
brought by the City of Milwaukee, are two other cases moving forward against
paint companies for manufacturing and marketing a product they knew was unsafe.
On February 28, Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein
dismissed the jury and said that punitive damages were not appropriate against
the companies. Next, Silverstein and attorneys for both sides will begin a series
of hearings to determine the scope of the paint manufacturers’ responsibility
for the nuisance and set out appropriate remedies.
Despite significant progress in reducing lead poisoning,
it remains the number one environmental health hazard facing American children,
with an estimated 310,000 children suffering from lead poisoning, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lead exposure can cause permanent
damage to a child’s nervous system, resulting in IQ loss, learning disabilities,
reduced attention span, and behavior problems. The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development estimates that 40 percent of US homes contain lead-based
paint.
In related news, on March 3, a state appeals court in California
reinstated a lawsuit similar to Rhode Island’s case, which was filed by
a group of government entities, including Santa Clara County.
Chicago
Families’ Class Action Lawsuit Against Lead Paint Industry Reinstated
Families suing the Lead Industries Association (LIA) and
seven lead pigment manufacturers celebrated a victory in early February when
the Illinois Appellate Court ruled that their class action lawsuit could move
forward. The opinion reversed the decision of a Cook County Circuit Court judge
who had thrown the case out.
The parents in the case argue that lead-based paint poses
a hazard to their children, that the pigment manufacturers and LIA knew of the
hazards but continued to both market lead-based paint and thwart government
regulations designed to protect children, and that the companies and the LIA
should now fund a lead screening program for at risk children.
The parents’ victory follows a defeat for the City
of Chicago in January, when the Appellate Court ruled in a rehearing that the
city could not hold lead pigment manufacturers liable for ongoing public health
costs.
EPA To
Hold Meetings about the Renovation and Remodeling Rule
Title X of 1992 required EPA to issue a rule to ensure
lead safety in renovation and remodeling activities that create lead hazards.
Upcoming hearings in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Washington,
DC, between March 27 and April 6 provide key opportunities for comment on the
Agency's proposed rule. The Alliance encourages focus on four key messages:
(1) dangerous work practices (machine sanding, sandblasting, dry scraping, open
flame burning, torches burning above 1100 degrees, volatile chemical strippers)
should be prohibited, (2) dust clearance should be required after renovation
work, (3) there must be a meaningful system of enforcement, and (4) all persons
performing renovation work should receive effective training in lead safety.
Persons who want to testify—or even attend—should contact Mike Wilson
at EPA (202-566-0521; wilson.mike@epa.gov)
to get on the list. Requests to testify or attend will be accepted in the order
they’re received. Since each hearing is only four hours, and since 10
minute statements are allowed, the testimony slots may fill up quickly. The
entire announcement about the meetings can be found at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-TOX/2006/February/Day-27/t1784.htm.
The health protectiveness of EPA's final renovation and
remodeling rule will depend on the forcefulness, quantity, and credibility of
stakeholder input. The public hearings are an important arena in the debate.
Of equal importance are written comments on behalf of children and public health.
The proposed rule was published January 10, 2006 in the Federal Register at
71 FR 1588. The proposed rule can be viewed at www.regulations.gov
[type the word 'renovation' in the keyword field]. Written comments can be submitted
through the online docket. UPDATE: The
deadline for written comments is May 25, 2006.
Doctors, Public
Health Officials Decry Bush Proposal to Dismantle National Children’s
Study
Buried within the President’s FY07 federal budget
proposal is a plan to eliminate the National Children’s Study before it
even gets off the ground. The budget not only zeroes out funding for the study,
OMB also directs the National Institutes of Health to completely dismantle the
program.
The National Children’s Study was designed to track
a cadre of children from birth to age 21, studying the effects of genetics,
nutrition, and environmental influences on their health, development, and general
well-being. Doctors in Salt Lake City; Waukesha, Wis.; and four other vanguard
sites for the landmark study decried the Bush Administration’s move.
Edward Clark, medical director of the Primary Children’s
Medical Center in Salt Lake City, said, “What I’m concerned about,
again, is that America’s children who are disenfranchised have programs
for them that are hijacked. The current generation of children may be the first
in modern history to face the prospects of being less healthy than their parents.”
Elias Zerhouni, Director of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), dismissed such concerns, saying that even with the proposed cut,
NIH retained enough funding and flexibility to direct dollars down what he calls
the “most promising research avenues.” Zerhouni also said that defunding
the National Children’s Study was not about cutting budgets but about
“prioritization.”
Clark and Alan Fleischman, chair of the National Children’s
Study Advisory Committee, disagree with Zerhouni and have already started lobbying
Congress to safeguard the study’s funding. Clark intends to make the budgetary
choice clear and personal for Congressional members, saying, “To walk
away after spending [$50 million] and time is irresponsible. I think it’s
immoral to abandon the country’s children.”
Groups
Sue EPA Over New Human Pesticide Testing Rules
In February, a coalition of health and environmental advocates,
farmworkers and doctors sued EPA, contending that the agency’s human testing
rule for pesticides violates a law passed by Congress in 2005 that mandates
strict ethical and scientific protections for pesticide testing on humans.
“EPA’s rule allows pesticide companies to use
intentional tests on humans to justify weaker restrictions on pesticides,”
said Dr. Margaret Reeves, a senior staff scientist with Pesticide Action Network
North America.
Although the rule prohibits some kinds of testing and limits
others, the groups say that it is riddled with loopholes that undermine its
effectiveness and ultimately encourage more human testing, the coalition groups
said. The coalition asserts that the rule also fails to ensure that pesticide
testing on human subjects meets the strictest scientific and ethical standards
recommended by a 2004 National Academy of Sciences report and outlined in the
Nuremberg Code after World War II.
There have been serious ethical and scientific problems
with such tests in the past. For example, a company told participants in one
test they were eating vitamins, not toxic pesticides. In many other tests, companies
have not provided any long-term follow-up to protect participants’ health.
In 1998, the Clinton Administration banned EPA from relying
on the results of such tests because of their questionable scientific and ethical
integrity. The Bush Administration at first ratified the Clinton-era moratorium,
but then lifted the ban. Congress reimposed a moratorium in 2005, pending finalization
of stricter rules.
The pesticide industry and EPA both argue that the new
rules are strict and will keep pregnant women, children, infants, and other
vulnerable populations out of harm’s way when pesticides are tested on
humans.
Erik Olson, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources
Defense Council, disagreed with the industry and Agency assessment of the rules.
“The industry’s human pesticide tests are unscientific and unethical,”
Olson said. “Their record of abuse is appalling, yet the EPA disregards
Congress’ order to crack down on this abhorrent practice.”
Lawsuits were filed simultaneously in the Second Circuit
Court of Appeals in New York City and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in
San Francisco. The groups filing lawsuits include Pesticide Action Network North
America, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and
Farmworkers United), San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility,
and Natural Resources Defense Council.
For more information on the cases, visit www.panna.org.
New York
City Pesticide Law Promotes IPM, Lower Toxicity Options
New York City’s pesticide law, passed as Local Law
37 of 2005, is now in partial effect and will be phased in fully during 2006.
The law bans from use certain classes of pesticide by city agencies, and their
contractors and subcontractors, in property owned or leased by the city, including
the city’s public housing agency. In place of the highly toxic chemicals
it bans, the law encourages the use of lower toxicity options and integrated
pest management (IPM).
The city has already started its first implementation step,
banning from agency use all pesticides classified as Toxicity Category I by
the U.S. EPA. This includes those pesticides that come with the word “DANGER”
on their labels. By May, the city will also ban from agency use all pesticides
classified as known, likely, probable, or possible human carcinogens, and at
the end of 2006 will forbid agencies and their contractors and subcontractors
from using any pesticide classified by the California Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment as a developmental toxin.
The law does contain notable exemptions from the bans,
including applications of restricted pesticides to safeguard water supplies,
kill pathogens, maintain sports fields and golf courses, and pesticides used
for rodent control provided that the pesticides are inaccessible to children
and pets. The law also specifically allows the continued use of boric acid,
disodium tetrahydrate, silica gels, diatomaceous earth, and nonvolatile baits
in tamper-proof containers, as these are lower toxicity options, some of which
can be used as part of an integrated pest management strategy.
To assist agencies and their contractors, the city has
launched an information website about the law and its requirements. The website,
www.nyc.gov/health/ll37,
will be continually updated with new information and tools to make implementation
of the law as successful as possible.
Congressional
Investigative Office Takes EPA to Task over Lead in Drinking Water
In late January, the General Accountability Office (GAO),
Congress’ investigative office, issued a critical report on the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to safeguard the nation’s drinking
water against elevated levels of lead. The report found that EPA has incomplete
data about lead in drinking water and that the problem may be threatening public
health.
GAO discovered that recent test results from over 30 percent
of the country’s water systems were missing from EPA databases, and the
likely cause of the missing data is that states are not reporting the results
of drinking water tests for lead. GAO also said that standards for lead in plumbing
fixtures, which allow “lead-free” faucets and other components to
contain up to 8 percent lead, may endanger the health of millions of Americans.
The EPA disagreed with the criticism. Benjamin Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator for Water, asserted, “The Lead and Copper Rule
has been effective in more than 96 percent of water systems serving 3,300 people
or more, and we are committed to further strengthening protections from lead
through additional actions.”
U.S. House Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA) retorted,
“The status quo of allowing our children’s health to be put at risk
while failing to take action is beyond irresponsible.”
GAO recommended several changes, including changing lead
monitoring requirements, improved data collection and preservation, and a re-examination
of the Lead and Copper Rule’s plumbing fixture standards.
Survey
of California Housing Code Inspectors Reveals Lack of Attention to Lead Hazards
Lead Safe Communities, a new nonprofit organization in
California that seeks to improve enforcement of lead safety in homes, conducted
a survey in January that reveals a significant lack of attention to, and in
some cases, lack of knowledge of lead hazards in housing among housing code
inspectors in California.
The survey of fifty inspectors from throughout the state
showed that over half (54 percent) of individuals who conduct housing inspections
for government agencies have never received training on lead hazards, and 44
percent are unaware of existing state laws that require local agencies to identify
and abate lead hazards. Eighty-six percent rarely or never identified lead hazards
as a housing violation, although over 90 percent worked in communities with
significant risk factors for lead hazards (significant number of housing built
before 1950, low-income residents, rental housing stock, and children under
age six).
Training on lead hazards in housing was identified as a
needed resource by all housing inspectors polled, and 85 percent of surveyed
agencies did not have a protocol or plan for implementing lead safety into existing
code enforcement inspections or housing inspections.
On February 3, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian
Housing issued voluntary guidance to its staff and funded-programs regarding
integrated pest management (IPM). The guidance alerts public housing agencies
of the availability of IPM as a pest management strategy and provides additional
reference materials on IPM control of termites, cockroaches, and rodents.
The guidance is in reaction to a lawsuit filed against
HUD by the State of New York and assertions by the Alliance for Healthy Homes,
the Natural Resources Defense Council, and others, arguing that federal law
requires HUD to “promote” IPM as a pest management strategy in all
public housing. The guidance doesn’t specifically encourage the use of
IPM, however nor does it require its use. Instead, the text encourages public
housing agencies to “consider the IPM approach for pest control.”
The guidance also repeatedly stresses the voluntary nature of the advice.
National
Center for Healthy Housing Conducts Home Decontamination Demonstration Project
in New Orleans
Over the past four months, the National Center for Healthy
Housing (NCHH) and Enterprise Community Partners and their partners, Neighborhood
Housing Services of New Orleans, NeighborWorks America, Columbia University,
and Tulane University, carried out pilot home decontamination demonstration
projects in three New Orleans homes with varying levels of flood damage. The
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided lead funding for the work.
The project offers important information about how to safely
decontaminate flooded homes and how much it will cost to restore these homes.
Returning homeowners and workers are entering homes with extensive mold contamination,
pest infestations and safety hazards. Results from the project show that mold
spores in the air can be over 100 times outdoor levels when people remove mold
contaminated building components and belongings, making appropriate personal
protective equipment essential. Cleaning all surfaces in a home, including upper
walls and ceilings, applying a substance to kill mold and prevent the regrowth
of mold, and completing the final drying process were found to be critical steps
for the success of mold clean-up. The cost of this decontamination process,
after all possessions and furnishings are removed from the home, was between
$3.40 and $4.10 per square foot of floor area, or $4,400 for an average 1,200-foot
home. The project shows that successful mold remediation procedures in moderately
damaged homes can be performed in a cost-effective way.
The recommended steps for flood cleanup can be found at
the NCHH website, www.centerforhealthyhousing.org/html/new_orleans_mold_removal.html.
A how-to video, co-produced by the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health
Center of New York City, will also soon be available that gives an overview
of how to decontaminate flooded homes and illustrates these procedures. An illustrated
field guide is also being developed and will be available in the next month.
Australian
Researchers Link Regular Pesticide Exposure to Debilitating Neurological Disorder
In a report to the Australian Neuroscience Society in February
2006, a group of researchers presented findings that chronic exposure to pesticides,
including those used indoors, could increase the risk of developing a devastating
neurological disease.
The condition, known as motor neuron disease, causes progressive
paralysis and is not curable. It begins with muscle weakness, muscle twitching,
or difficulty speaking, and eventually leads to full paralysis. Most people
who develop motor neuron disease die within five years.
The researchers said that differences in a gene that is
involved in breaking down organophosphate pesticides could make some people
more susceptible to motor neuron disease if they are regularly exposed to the
pesticides. The researchers also asserted that pesticide exposure is likely
just one contributing cause of the disease in people with the genetic difference,
and that more research is needed to understand the gene-environment interactions
that influence development of the disease.
For information on how to keep high-toxicity pesticides
out of your home and how to combat pests through integrated pest management,
visit www.afhh.org/dah/dah_pesticides.htm.
California Declares
Secondhand Smoke a Toxic Air Pollutant
In late January, California became the first state in the
nation to deem environmental tobacco smoke, or secondhand smoke, a toxic air
pollutant. The California Air Resources Board made the determination in a unanimous
vote, based in part on a September 2005 report that linked exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer in young
women. The decision puts environmental tobacco smoke in the same class as diesel
exhaust, arsenic, and benzene. Unlike those air pollutants, however, environmental
tobacco smoke is often found in highly concentrated amounts indoors.
The tobacco industry downplayed the decision, saying that
no research supports the regulators’ decision. Public health and environmental
health scientists disagreed, saying that if people are serious about breast
cancer, premature births, asthma, and heart disease, which cost California and
the nation’s economies billions of dollars in health care costs and lost
productivity each year, they must actively address and regulate environmental
tobacco smoke as a toxic air pollutant.
The EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice's Collaborative
Problem-Solving (CPS) Cooperative Agreements Program was established in 2003
to provide financial assistance to eligible affected local community-based organizations
working on or planning to work on projects to address local environmental and/or
public health concerns, using EPA's "environmental justice collaborative
problem-solving model." The deadline for the 2006 funding round
is March 31. For more information, see www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-cps-grants.html.
EPA New England has announced the availability of its 2006
Healthy Communities Grant Program. The program integrates nine programs—Assistance
& Pollution Prevention-Schools and Healthcare Sectors, Asthma, Children’s
Environmental Health, Community Air Toxics, Pesticides, Smart Growth, Tools
for Schools, Toxics, and the Urban Environmental Program. These programs work
in partnership to improve environmental conditions by competitively identifying
projects that will achieve measurable environmental, human health, and quality
of life improvements in communities across New England. In order to qualify
for funding, projects must meet two criteria: (1) be located in and directly
benefit one or more of the four Target Investment Areas; and (2) identify measurable
environmental and public health results in one or more of the seven target program
areas. Target Investment Areas include environmental justice areas of concern,
places with high risks from toxic air pollution, sensitive populations, and/or
urban areas (populations of 35,000 or more). Target program areas include: asthma,
capacity-building on environmental and public health issues, healthy indoor/outdoor
environments, healthy schools, urban natural resources and open/green space,
smart growth, and water quality monitoring or analyses. Eligible applicants
include nonprofit organizations, local government, public and private universities
and colleges, hospitals, state or regional agencies, K-12 schools or school
districts, and tribes. Eligible applicants may apply for $5,000 to $30,000 for
one or two-year projects that will take place in one or more of the six New
England states. The deadline for one-page project proposals is April
5, 2006. For more information, see www.epa.gov/ne/eco/uep/2006-HC-Application-Guidance.pdf.
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/index.htm#2006_0210_grant_4.
Upcoming Conferences
The Lead and Healthy Homes National Conference and the
Indoor Environmental Health & Technologies Conference will be held March
28-31 in Charleston, SC. This conference will consist of two tracks, one focused
on prevention of childhood lead poisoning, the other on addressing other indoor
environmental health hazards including mold. For more information on the program
tracks and other conference details, visit www.leadmoldconferences.com.
The New England Coordinating Committee and the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host the 2006 Region 1 Partnership
Conference on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, April 4-7, in Newport, RI.
Participants will review regional strategies and develop programs and policies
for eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health problem by
2010. For more information, contact Claudine Johnson at CDC, evj5@cdc.gov
or 770-488-3629.
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 22-24 in Saginaw, MI. 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. A complimentary pre-conference
event on May 21 will take attendees to nearby historic Frankenmuth, MI, for
sightseeing, shopping, and dinner. For more information, visit www.fni.org/leadandasthma.asp.
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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