For Immediate Release:
August 31, 2010
Are you at risk of lead-based paint exposure?
Monmouth County Health Department can help you answer this question
FREEHOLD, NJ – In an effort to reduce and eliminate the exposure of residents to lead, the Monmouth County Health Department is continuing its work to identify homes with lead-based paint and help homeowners remediate any problems.
“It’s important to further efforts to raise awareness of and lower exposure to the hazards of lead, especially among those most at-risk: children 6 and under and pregnant women,” said Karen DeMarco, the county’s assistant public health coordinator. “Testing your child and your home for lead is an important step that parents and caregivers can take to understand the risk level.”
Through the Lead Education/Outreach (LEO) Program, the county Health Department is again providing homeowners, landlords and renters with a free lead dust wipe kit and/or EPA-approved lead spot test kit.
If a lead-dust or lead-based paint hazard is identified, an LEO Program representative can assist homeowners in applying for Lead Hazard Control Assistance funds to remediate the problem. If homeowners want to make repairs to their home themselves, the LEO Program can provide low-cost training to ensure the work is done in a lead-safe manner.
This lead awareness program initiative was announced by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) last week. The Monmouth County Health Department and its project partners, the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative Inc. and the Northern New Jersey Maternal & Child Health Consortium Inc., each were awarded a $350,000 program grant for the third year.
Monmouth County’s grant covers six counties in central New Jersey: Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Mercer.
Since the inception of the program the county Health Department has provided:
- More than 200 education outreach events to communities that are at risk for lead poisoning;
- Lead Ready and Renovate trainings, targeted at educating home contractors on safe renovation methods in homes with lead paint;
- Educational mailings to homeowners regarding the dangers of lead-based paint;
- Distribution of more than 1,000 Wipe-Out Lead Kits for homeowners to safely check their home surfaces for the presence of lead-based paint.
In 2009, the Monmouth County Health Department conducted a needs assessment for lead poisoning prevention education and services in the central region of New Jersey and developed a county specific, five-year strategic plan for the Central Region of New Jersey to reduce the incidence of childhood lead poisoning.
At the end of 2009, the DCA rated the performance of Monmouth County Health Department at 172 percent,” DeMarco said. “We greatly exceed the programs anticipated goals and we look to continue that effort going forward. We want to make homes in the central Jersey region lead safe.”
For more information on the LEO Program, please visit www.leadsafenj.org and click on “Help Near You” to find the LEO agency that serves your community.
Lead poisoning can result in permanent physical and mental effects, such as lowered IQ, difficulties succeeding in school, liver and kidney damage and has recently been linked to and increase in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. Recent studies also have shown that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. Even small amounts of lead can result in permanent damages.
The good news is that you can prevent exposure to lead. By learning more about the sources of lead exposure and how to reduce these sources you can protect yourself and your children from the dangers of lead.
Information is available from the Monmouth County Health Department’s Web site at www.visitmonmouth.com or by calling 732-431-7456.
“Lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body, but because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms it frequently goes unrecognized,” said Michael Meddis, Monmouth County’s Public Health Coordinator. “Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death.”
Lead, a metallic substance, remains in the environment years after its initial use. It is toxic to the body’s tissues and enzymes. Lead poisoning results from exposure to lead in the environment. Even though lead has been banned for decades, it still may be present in homes built prior to 1978 and is most commonly found in chipping or peeling paints, plumbing and surrounding soil.
Removing or avoiding lead sources or early detection through blood screening is the best means to prevent lead poisoning. Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. The goal is to prevent lead exposure to children before they are harmed. There are many ways parents can reduce a child’s exposure to lead. The key is stopping children from coming into contact with lead. Lead hazards in a child’s environment must be identified and controlled or removed safely.
The state’s lead programs are designed to keep New Jersey families safe from lead and are funded through a trust account established under the 2004 Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act.
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