New state campaign highlights concerns over lead poisoning

Awareness effort called ‘Lead Safe NJ’

By: Hilary Parker
   Drumthwacket was a fitting place for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to kickoff its new awareness campaign, "Lead Safe NJ," on Tuesday
   The luxurious Princeton mansion that serves as home to the state’s governors might seem worlds away from problems with lead-poisoning, often thought of as a scourge confined to low-income housing.
   And that is one of the misconceptions the campaign seeks to address.
   "There is a series of myths to deal with and puncture," said acting DCA Commissioner Charles Richman.
   He explained that more than 50 percent of houses in New Jersey were built before lead-based residential paint was federally banned in 1978 — and even residents of suburban historic houses and gentrified areas are not safe from its ill effects.
   To address the myths, the DCA will work with libraries and doctors, school nurses and parents, to educate the public about the disease Mr. Richman characterized as "treatable, curable and preventable."
   The Lead Safe NJ campaign aims to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in New Jersey by 2010, and in that time frame every multiple family dwelling in New Jersey — 850,000 units — will be inspected. A Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund exists to provide financial assistance to property owners seeking to eliminate lead from their homes. The LHCA Fund was established by the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act, said to be the most comprehensive lead-poisoning prevention legislation in the nation, which was introduced by Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark) and adopted in 2004.
   "We put a lot of money into education, treatment and research," said Sen. Rice of efforts to handle lead poisoning prior to the LHCA Act. "But, with lead paint, why don’t we just get rid of it?" he asked.
   "It’s the same money we’re spending," he remembered thinking, which prompted his introduction of the legislation. He said that during his decades of service on the Newark City Council, he repeatedly saw students diagnosed with learning disabilities that were attributable to lead poisoning.
   With the Lead Safe NJ campaign in full swing, he vowed to reintroduce legislation to increase fees on real estate agents’ licenses by $20, with the additional funds earmarked toward eliminating lead. The agents have adamantly opposed the fee hike, but Sen. Rice, a licensed real estate agent himself, characterized it as a "win-win" situation for them, explaining that it would eliminate the need to stall closings for remediation efforts.
   Since 1988, the Lead Poisoning Task Force, a joint committee of the departments of Community Affairs, Health, Human Services and Environmental Protection, has investigated the sources, effects and prevention of lead poisoning in New Jersey. Deborah Cohen, LPTF member and director of the Office for Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, called lead "insidious," and said it is found in toys, cookware and electronics, as well as house paint.
   While Lead Safe NJ’s main emphasis is educating people about hazards from lead-based house paint, organizers are well aware of the other risks. The campaign’s Web site, www.leadsafenj.org, includes information on other sources of lead, as well as product alerts and recalls.
   "It’s not just paint," said Sen. Rice. "Our educational program is going to go beyond that. We have the funds. We have the knowledge. The key is to educate."