Center for Children's Health Gives Award to Local Health Center's De-Leading Program

December 16, 1999

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Like many parents dealing with lead poisoning for the first time, Janet Griffith didn’t know what to do when confronted with her 2-year-old daughter’s alarming blood tests. But Bowdoin Street Health Center, where the toddler receives primary care, soon sent a lead expert to Griffith’s Dorchester home to help make her polluted yard safer and preserve her daughter’s health.

Last week, Bowdoin Street Health Center, of Dorchester, received the 1999 Harvard Award for Excellence in Children’s Health for its Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. The annual $10,000 award is cosponsored by the Harvard Center for Children’s Health at the School of Public Health, the city of Boston, and Children’s Hospital. The award recognizes a Boston organization for extraordinary work in the area of child and adolescent health.

Ingested lead can cause brain and kidney damage, particularly in young children. Bowdoin Street Health Center identifies children who have high levels of lead in their blood by testing them at their regular checkups. Outreach workers visit the homes of all children with elevated results.

"The only way to prevent lead poisoning is to have your home de-leaded," said Adela Margules, executive director of the Bowdoin Street Health Center, who accepted the award at a ceremony at Boston City Hall. De-leading is an involved process that can cost from $5,000 to $35,000. "But children need to be kept safe right away," she said, "so we help families find ways to make their homes safer while they wait."

"Most people are surprised to learn that childhood lead poisoning is one of the most common pediatric health problems in the United States today," said Joseph Carrillo, instructor in pediatrics and chair of the Selection Committee that chose the Bowdoin Street program for the award. Even low levels of ingested lead can cause learning and behavioral problems while high levels can lead to retardation, convulsions, or coma.

Children become poisoned by lead dust and paint from older homes. In Boston, 67 percent of the houses were built before 1950, when homes were almost always painted with lead-based paint. Lead paint has been banned in the United States since 1978.

Lead dust sloughs off the outside of homes into the yards where children play. Rain also causes dangerous "runoff" areas in soil, usually within a few feet of the home. Children under the age of 6 are most at risk. Lead gets into their bodies when they put soiled hands and toys in their mouths during normal play.

"All children are at risk," said Carrillo, "but low-income and minority children are disproportionately affected."

The Bowdoin Center’s "Lead-Safe Yard Program" makes soil in yards like Janet Griffith’s less accessible to children by covering it with rocks, grass, or wooden decks. Run-off water can be channeled away from the house. Gardens can be built a safe distance from the house on new soil. The cost can be less than $1,000.

"The real tragedy is that lead poisoning is entirely preventable," said Carrillo.