69传媒

School Climate & Safety News in Brief

Lead Poisoning in Pa. and N.J. May Be Worse Than in Flint

By Tribune News Service 鈥 February 16, 2016 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

The national uproar over lead poisoning in Flint, Mich., has drawn renewed attention to a children鈥檚 health crisis that has plagued Pennsylvania and New Jersey for decades.

The states鈥 own data show that 18 cities in Pennsylvania and 11 in New Jersey may have an even higher share of children with dangerously elevated levels of lead than does Flint.

The reports, released in 2014, were recirculated this month by health advocates trying to draw attention to the lead problem.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to take anything away from Flint,鈥 said Elyse Pivnick, the director of environmental health for Isles Inc., a community-development organization in Trenton, N.J. 鈥淏ut, whoa, we have to tell the story of lead in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, too.鈥

Regional health officials, while expressing concern for children exposed to lead, insisted that the advocates were mismatching data and failing to recognize the progress that has been made.

The biggest source of lead remains chipping and flaking paint in old and unmaintained houses. Despite improvements in recent years, blood-lead levels remain high, especially among poor children.

Dr. Tom Vernon, a Philadelphia physician and former director of Colorado鈥檚 health department, agreed that lead is less of a problem these days because of measures such as removing it from gasoline and paint. 鈥淏ut that good news is offset by what we鈥檙e learning about the effects on school achievement and executive function at lower and lower levels of lead exposure,鈥 he said.

No lead exposure for children is safe, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but a blood-lead level of 5 micrograms per deciliter is the threshold that should trigger action.

In Pennsylvania, 13,000 children younger than 7 were known to have blood-lead levels higher than 5 in 2014, a decrease of nearly 7 percent from the previous year. In the New Jersey report, more than 5,400 children were similarly affected.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the February 17, 2016 edition of Education Week as Lead Poisoning in Pa. and N.J. May Be Worse Than in Flint

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School Climate & Safety What 69传媒 Need To Know About Anonymous Threats鈥擜nd How to Prevent Them
Anonymous threats are on the rise. 69传媒 should act now to plan their responses, but also take measures to prevent them.
3 min read
Tightly cropped photo of hands on a laptop with a red glowing danger icon with the exclamation mark inside of a triangle overlaying the photo
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Opinion Restorative Justice, the Classroom, and Policy: Can We Resolve the Tension?
Student discipline is one area where school culture and the rules don't always line up.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Letter to the Editor School Safety Should Be Built In, Not Tacked On
69传媒 and communities must address ways to prevent school violence by first working with people, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Opinion How One Big City District Is Addressing the Middle East Conflict
Partnerships are helping the Philadelphia schools better support all students and staff, writes Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.
Tony B. Watlington Sr.
4 min read
Young people protesting with signs.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty