BREAKING NEWS: NO SAFE BLOOD LEAD LEVEL FOR CHILDREN FOUND, CDC director testifies to Senate hearing on continued comtaminaton from old lead smelter sites
“No safe blood lead level for children has been identified,” Christopher Portier, director of the CDC‘s environmental health center, testified.
Generations of children are growing up playing in the shadow of these lead smelting plants,” said U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. “Throughout the nation, the USA TODAY report shows lead contamination has had a devastating impact … it’s obvious we could help fix this problem if the EPA had the resources to fully test and clean up” the sites.
Lautenberg’s comments came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the latest science on the effects lead has on children’s bodies.
The studies show that even small exposures are associated with measurable reductions in IQ, increased incidence of attention disorders and other health problems in children, members were told by scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Â
USA TODAY – July 12, 2012
“EPA, CDC officials testify to Senate on child lead poisoning”
WASHINGTON – A U.S. senator questioned federal environmental health officials at a hearing Thursday about what is being done to address lead poisoning risks posed by contaminated soil around hundreds of old lead factory sites featured in a recent USA TODAY investigation.
Did you know that there are more than 38,000 children and young people under the age of 19 who live within the lead deposition footprint from the Frisco Exide smelter?Â
You can see a map and get specific information here.
NPR, the Center for Public Integrity/iWatch News and USA TODAY have been doing stellar investigative reporting on the ongoing poisoning and contamination of communities across the country by both the continued emission of lead and other dangerous toxins into the air, as well as the ongoing contamination and lead exposure from lead smelters that have been closed for years.
If you didn’t catch the stories when they were first published, we have a compilation for you here.
Also, you can go here to learn about the negative impact Exide has on communities across the country, including those waiting for the company to clean up contaminated land and water, rivers from sites closed more than 30 years ago.
