Lead

Annually, thousands of children ingest high levels of lead, primarily from the dust in their homes. The effects of this powerful neurotoxin on a child’s cognitive and behavioral development are far-reaching and costly. But this threat can be eliminated at a reasonable cost. After years of lead safe advocacy by non-profits and children’s groups, the state has renewed its investment in removing lead and addressing other health and safety issues of NJ homes. As a result, community-based organizations across New Jersey are providing lead hazard control and healthy home improvements to qualified residents at no cost.

Click Here to see the Community-Based Organization in your County: Agency List

How does Lead affect Children?

Lead’s industrial uses, such as in paint, gasoline, auto brake linings, bullets, and water pipes have allowed millions of tons of this toxic substance to enter our environment, causing damage to the brains and bodies of children and adults. Lead exposure, even at low levels, has a significant negative impact on health and educational outcomes. It causes neurological damage, decreased IQ, increased likelihood of reading disabilities and reduced academic performance, increased blood pressure, increased violence, anemia and gastrointestinal issues, stunted growth, seizures, comas, and increased incarceration rates. At very high levels, lead poisoning can result in death. Here are some examples of lead’s impacts on a young person:

Compromised long-term memory; for example, a student can’t recall multiplication tables from one day to the next
Reduced auditory processing makes it difficult, for example, to hear the difference between “s” and “f” impeding the ability to read
Inability to control behavior
Inability to learn no matter how hard a child tries
Disruption in classrooms by children frustrated by their failure to learn makes it difficult for other children to learn.
Lower test scores for individuals and entire school districts that have a disproportionate number of children with lead poisoning
Disproportionate number of low-income males incarcerated, unemployed, and aimless because lead has more detrimental impacts on males compared to females

What Does Lead Look Like?

Lead dust is too small to be seen. It comes from paint that has deteriorated, mostly on windows and doors.

When lead-based paint is not disturbed, the risk of exposure to lead is very small. When paint is disturbed, lead dust is created. For example, an older window or door, with years of paint layers, can produce lead dust just from ordinary opening and closing. The window sills and wells collect lead dust which can be spread simply by opening the window. Lead particles naturally fall onto surfaces instead of staying airborne. As the dust falls to the floor and onto toys, children are most likely to come in contact with lead dust.

Young children are especially likely to put their hands or objects into their mouths, which creates an easy pathway for lead ingestion. Lead dust is particularly dangerous because it is invisible. A lead dust particle the size of a grain of sand can poison a small child. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the amount of lead dust equal to the amount in a sweetener packet is enough to contaminate 100 small rooms!

What Can I Do About Lead In My Home?

The State of New Jersey has a program to identify and remediate lead-based paint hazards to prevent elevated blood lead levels in children and pregnant women. The Department of Community Affairs’s Lead Safe Home Remediation Program targets municipalities in New Jersey with high reported incidences of elevated blood lead levels in children under age six. The program is operated by community-based agencies serving all New Jersey Counties.

Click Here to learn about the Application Process