St. Louis plans to wipe out lead poisoning in children

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis will strive to eliminate lead poisoning in children by 2010, Mayor Francis Slay and other officials said Friday.

The St. Louis plan calls for removing lead from buildings before children are poisoned by it.

"We need better organization, stricter accountability and new focus," Slay said. "We are going to inspect more homes and take more action before children get sick."

He spoke at a news conference and released a plan to try and wipe out childhood lead poisoning in St. Louis.

Slay was joined by Benjamin Hooks, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1977 to 1992. Hooks is the founder of the Children's Health Forum, and committed to the elimination of lead poisoning.

"The important thing to recognize is it can be eradicated. It can be, and it's our job to do it," Hooks said.

Sen. Kit Bond, who has pledged to secure $15 million over three years to fight lead poisoning, announced an additional $500,000 to buy eight machines that detect lead in paint and to train lead inspectors, his office said Friday.

The city's report contained recommendations from consultant Ruth Ann Norton, hired by the city to help improve its handling of lead poisoning in children.

Norton, executive director of the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, said that while other cities have dramatically reduced lead poisoning, St. Louis children remain at high risk.

More than 30 percent of St. Louis children tested in 2000 had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

The time between initial inspection and the start of lead abatement activities must be shortened from the current average of 223 days, according to the report.

Norton also stressed improved enforcement, noting that 513 lead violation cases were prosecuted in the city's housing court in 2001. Only 74 of those cases resulted in having the hazard reduced. Some of the resolutions took from seven months to two years, she said.

Norton also suggested better coordination among agencies sharing the responsibility for lead-poisoning prevention.

For example, targeted inspections will focus first on homes of low-to-moderate income pregnant women. Building division inspectors will be trained to identify lead hazards as well as other building and code violations.

Houses or apartments found to have hazards will be cited for lead violations and that will spark efforts to make them lead-safe.

Elevated levels of lead in children's blood can cause brain damage, mental retardation, behavior problems, liver and kidney damage and hearing loss.

Resources will be focused on at-risk housing such as that built before 1978 whose occupants are children or pregnant women. Although houses built before 1950 are most likely to contain lead-based paint, the federal government didn't ban such paint until 1978.

City officials also have posted the job of lead coordinator. Norton said the job called for a "lead czar," someone who reports to the mayor and works with three departments to make sure action is being taken.

Norton said after the news conference she'll remain in a consulting role at a cost of about $100,000 over three years.