The Lead Amnesia Syndrome

While trying to be a reliable source of information on lead safety issues, CLASH has encountered 

The "move the sofa" remediation myth based on a story told by a former Director of Public Health who explained how she moved a sofa away from a window well to prevent a poisoned child from coming into contact with lead dust.

Or, predictably, the latest public policy crises, COVID, Say Yes to Schools, Racism as a Public Health issue that will divert the public eyes (and dollars) of the public away from lead poisoning. After all 

• You can't see lead (especially when you're not looking for it)

• Many times children show no symptoms or symptoms are mistaken for autism or developmental deficiencies.

• Didn't we remove lead from paint in 1978? 

• From gas in the 1980s? 

Or take the word of Mitchell Balk from Mt. Sinai Health Foundation. Mt. Sinai Health Foundation Director Mitchell Balk told his supporters. "The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition is a public-private partnership founded in 2019 to address the issue of lead poisoning. The Coalition was the driving force behind the City of Cleveland’s lead safety ordinance, passed in 2019, which requires landlords who own properties built before 1978 to be certified as lead-safe. Coalition partners use the Lead Safe Certification, education and community engagement, increased screening and testing, and early intervention to meet its goal."

​Here are the facts: February 3, 2019.  Advocacy group’s proposed ballot initiative requires older Cleveland rentals be made “lead safe” by 2021 "A 'lead safe' ordinance created by members of CLASH — Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing — would require owners of most Cleveland rental homes to prove their properties are lead-safe by 2021 or face fines."