Mary Beth Polley | Fall 2000 Headlines

Lawrence receives $3 million to combat lead poisoning

By Mary Beth Polley

WASHINGTON - The city of Lawrence is expected to receive close to $2 million to combat lead poisoning and de-lead older homes in the city from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

HUD has awarded a total of $3 million to the Massachusetts High Risk Consortium, which will distribute the money to the cities of Lawrence, Chelsea, Brockton and New Bedford, with about two-thirds of the money expected to go to Lawrence.

"Lead poisoning is the number one health risk and crisis in this city," said Anne D'Errico, Lawrence's deputy director of housing and the administrator for the HUD grant. "It's a critical, critical health crisis."

Lawrence has the highest lead-poisoning incident rate in the state and so will receive the largest portion of the grant money and oversee the entire program, according to D'Errico.

The HUD grant will provide $2500 to remove or cover lead paint in 500 housing units over the next two-and-a-half years and pay for relocating families during the de-leading process. The grant money only covers a portion of the total cost, which D'Errico estimates to be between $5,000-$10,000 per home. Owners and landlords must also pay a portion of the cost with other federal and local agencies also contributing toward the total clean-up cost.

Lead poisoning, which is defined in Massachusetts as 25 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, is especially dangerous to young children and can cause permanent damage to the brain, kidneys and nervous system. However, even at lower levels, continued exposure to lead can cause learning and behavioral disorders.

"Once children have lead poisoning, there's no cure," D'Errico said.

A Massachusetts's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) study, which tracked the cases of lead poisoning in Massachusetts from July 1995 through June 2000, showed that Lawrence has a rate of 8.6 cases of lead poisoning for every 1000 children screened. The state average is 2.6 cases per 1000 children screened.

"Lawrence heads the list with 195 cases over five years," said Roy Petre, assistant director of CLPPP.

Petre attributes the high incident rates in Lawrence and throughout Massachusetts to the age of most of the housing stock. Forty-seven percent of the homes in Massachusetts were built prior to 1950 and lead-based paint was not banned from residential homes until 1978.

"Massachusetts has the second oldest housing stock in the nation," Petre said. "We have very old housing and highly leaded housing."

Children can ingest lead paint either by eating it directly or by handling things with lead paint dust on them and then putting their hands in their mouths, said Petre.

"As the paint deteriorates it becomes a lead hazard for developing children who are at an oral period. The primary pathway for poisoning is this hand-to-mouth activity. Children's toys get dust on them and then a child puts the toy in his mouth," Petre said. "Lead gets into the system and interferes with normal brain development."

Massachusetts law requires children under the age of four to be tested annually for lead poisoning. If a child's lead level rises, Petre recommends parents get a home lead inspection immediately.

This is the second HUD lead poisoning prevention grant Lawrence has received. In March of 1998, the city was awarded $2.9 million to de-lead 500 homes, 450 of which have been completed.

"In most of the high risk community, 86 percent of the homes contained lead hazards," D'Errico said. "Now through our efforts those numbers have dropped but I would say our risk is incredibly high and the need is still there. It's a constant fight."