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Lead Poisoning

The Center for Disease Control has found that 1 in 6 children have dangerously high or elevated blood lead levels. Lead is a neurotoxin that can affect young children who come into contact with peeling lead paint, chipping lead paint and lead dust. Lead does not evaporate or disintegrate with time. It is important to determine if your home, your babysitter’s home, your child’s daycare center or school has unsafe lead paint.

The injuries that a child can develop through exposure to lead paint, peeling paint and lead dust include learning disabilities, problems with memory, decreased growth, impaired hearing, cognitive deficits, stomach problems and permanent brain damage. Children who have been exposed to lead paint and/or dust may also develop hyperactivity, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or suffer from encephalopathy (swelling of the brain). In severe cases, children can become comatose or need hospitalization to undergo a process called chelation, where the lead is removed from the blood.

Do You Live In An Older Apartment Building or House?
If so, there may be lead paint in your home. The federal government has banned the use of lead-based paint. If your child has lived in an older house or apartment building where there is chipping or peeling paint, you have rights. In New York City, including Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island your child is protected. New York Local Law 1 requires landlords to inspect the premises for the presence of lead paint if a child under the age of 6 lives in the home. The law further mandates that the landlord immediately remove any lead paint that is found in the apartment, building or house.

What Can You Do?
For your home, contact the local National Lead Information Center (NLIC) and ask for a local inspection. New York City residents can contact the New York City Department of Health-Lead Prevention Program. Have your family’s blood levels tested for lead contamination.

Children with lead poisoning will require assistance for the rest of their lives. HKPD wants to help put you in the best possible financial position to take care of your child.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of lead poisoning, lawsuits can be brought based upon the negligence and carelessness of landlords, past property owners or paint and pigment manufacturers. Our firm is well-versed in lead-paint poisoning cases, and we are ready to help. Please contact a HKPD personal injury lawyer for a free, initial consultation.

For more information:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/lead/lead.shtml
New York City Department of Health, Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadinfo.htm#protect – EPA’s What You Can Do to Protect Your Family From Lead Poisoning

http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/lead.htm - National Security Council’s Lead Poisoning FactSheet

Fact sources:
www.epa.gov/lead -- Environmental Protection Agency