AG Frosh Joins Coalition Calling To Strengthen Protections Against Childhood Lead Poisoning

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh on Thursday announced he joined a coalition of 19 state attorneys general in calling on the United States Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen protections against lead poisoning.

The coalition on Wednesday laid out recommendations on how the EPA could bolster its plan to combat childhood lead exposure after the agency released a draft strategy.

"The EPA's draft strategy to mitigate lead exposure is a good one, but we believe that it should be strengthened. Lead poisoning disproportionately impacts children in low-income communities and communities of color. Our comments urge a more aggressive approach that will more rapidly deliver environmental justice," Frosh said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no safe blood lead level in children has been identified. The agency said exposure to lead can lead to brain damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed development, and learning and behavior problems.

Swallowing house dust or soil contaminated by lead paint are the most common sources of lead exposure, the CDC said. Lead can also be found in soils, food and occupational exposures.

The Attorney General's office said in Maryland, laws are in place that requires residential landlords of properties built before 1978 to perform risk reduction measures and provide information about lead poisoning to tenants.

In their comments to the EPA, the coalition suggested several measures to strengthen its strategy by "aggressively" targeting hazards posed by lead. Those measures included:

• Pledging allocations of federal funds to replace drinking water service lines containing lead reaching struggling and historically marginalized communities;
• Adopting federal regulations requiring testing of water and remediation of lead service lines and lead plumbing fixtures in public, charter, and private schools, and in childcare centers;
• Increasing resources for the enforcement of existing laws relating to lead paint in rental housing and amending existing regulations to require landlords to increase the frequency of inspections of houses with a history of lead paint hazards and
• Identifying meaningful environmental justice targets to ensure that the communities most in need and the vulnerable are protected;

The attorneys general of Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and Delaware are among the coalition. Read the coalitions full suggestions here.