Councilman Bobby Wilson co-sponsored The Pittsburgh Lead Safety Law.

By Juliet Martinez

Photo: Bart Everson via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

This story is published in partnership with the Pittsburgh Community Newspaper Network (PCNN). It was originally printed in The Homepage, published by Hazelwood Initiative, Inc.

A proposed city ordinance should protect children from lead poisoning. Council members Corey O’Connor, Erika Strassburger, Deb Gross, and Bobby Wilson co-sponsored the bill. 

“Lead poisoning disproportionately affects Black and brown children in the City of Pittsburgh,” Wilson said. “These are our children, our neighbors, and our future leaders. The Pittsburgh Lead Safety Law is designed to equitably help the most vulnerable people in our community.” 

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) mandates lead testing for all babies and toddlers. Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) has replaced more than half the city’s lead water lines. But the ACHD says more than 500 local children have high lead levels in their blood right now. Lead water pipes can contribute to lead poisoning, but the main sources are dust, lead paint, and soil.

The federal government banned lead paint in homes in 1978, but 85% of Pittsburgh homes were built before then. The new city ordinance would attack these sources a few different ways:

• Routine testing of rental homes built before 1978. If there is lead in a rental property, the owner would have to remove it. The ordinance would also protect renters from retaliation if they request testing.
• City-owned properties would need to have filters installed to remove lead from water.
• Contractors working in older properties would have to have a lead-safe plan. This means they control dust or keep it contained in living areas, air ducts, or other spaces or homes.
• Demolition permits would have to include a lead safety plan to prevent the release of lead dust.

Why is lead dangerous? Talor Musil, from Women for a Healthy Environment, can explain. She spoke about the ordinance at a press conference at the City-County Building and said lead exposure harms children in ways that last a lifetime. It can damage a child’s intelligence, focus, and impulse control. 

“Right now, children are serving as lead detectors in their home environments,” Musil said. 

Lead is a slow poison that affects almost every organ in the body, including the brain and nervous system. Children in early developmental stages are most at risk from lead exposure. Their growing bodies soak up lead. The damage to their nervous systems can alter the course of their lives. 

Once a child has lead poisoning, there is no known treatment to remove it. Nothing can reverse or cure the ways that lead changes a child’s behavior or intelligence. Babies, toddlers, and children exposed to lead may not grow as well as they would have. In addition to affecting a child’s ability to learn, lead can cause hearing and speech problems and anemia. It can also cause high blood pressure, delayed puberty and diseases of the heart and kidneys.