EPA, City of Dallas Recognize Lead Poisoning Prevention Week at West Dallas Community Center

 EPA News Release:

EPA, City of Dallas Recognize Lead Poisoning Prevention Week at West Dallas Community Center

DALLAS, TEXAS (Oct. 27, 2022) – This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of Children’s Environmental Health Month, recognizes Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. To increase awareness of childhood lead poisoning, Regional Administrator Earthea Nance and staff from EPA Region 6 spoke with children and families at the Wesley Rankin Community Center in Dallas, Texas. The event was held in partnership with the city of Dallas Environmental Commission.

“Lead exposure and poisoning remain threats for children, especially those who live or go to school in older buildings, and can lead to lifelong health issues,” said Regional Administrator Earthea Nance. “But the good news is these threats are largely preventable by avoiding exposure. During Lead Poisoning Prevention Week—and throughout the year—EPA and the Biden-Harris Administration will keep working to raise awareness and provide investments to keep children all across the nation safe in their homes and schools.”

“As someone who grew up in the shadow of a lead smelter plant in West Dallas, I firmly believe in the importance of understanding the risks of lead poisoning and exposure,” said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson. “All of our children deserve to grow up in safe and healthy communities, and I am grateful to the EPA for its work to raise awareness of this issue in Dallas.”

RA Nance read a book and led an activity on the dangers of lead with a group of young children at the Wesley Rankin Community Center. She and Region 6 staff also spoke with parents and distributed educational materials on common lead exposures and how to avoid them. The center serves families in West Dallas, an area with many homes built before 1978, when lead was banned in paint in the United States. 

EPA and the city of Dallas also joined for another event at the Margaret Cone Head Start facility in Southeast Dallas, where staff read with children and distributed educational materials for parents.

Although the federal government banned residential use of lead-based paint in 1978, it is still present in millions of older homes. Infants, children, and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to lead exposure, which can, even at low levels, cause lifelong impacts including developmental impairment, learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity and behavioral problems. A blood-lead test is the only way to determine if a child has an elevated blood-lead level. Parents who think their child has been in contact with lead should contact their health care provider. 

EPA includes Lead Poisoning Prevention Week as part of Children’s Health Month, celebrated each October. EPA’s Office of Children’s Environmental Health was established to ensure EPA’s work consistently accounts for the way environmental hazards affect infants and children. Children are often more vulnerable to pollutants than adults due to differences in behavior and biology, that can lead to greater exposure and/or unique windows of susceptibility during development.

Visit EPA’s Children’s Health webpage to learn more about the Agency’s work to protect children’s environmental health.

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