Lead Paint
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf introduced a new initiative to test more children for lead and stop lead exposure by remediating paint and water lines, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. The "Lead-Free Pennsylvania" initiative will identify children with high lead levels, perform interventions, and remediate sources of lead, Wolf said when introducing the initiative.
“Pennsylvania has the sixth-highest percentage rate of children suffering from lead poisoning. And this is only the number that have been formally diagnosed, there are many other children,” Wolf said. “It is imperative that we get to work to end lead exposure in our commonwealth.”
Wolf further said that although lead tests are covered for children under the age of two by Medicare and the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as some children on private insurance as mandated by the Affordable Care Act, only 30% of the state’s children have been tested for lead. Of that number, 4.6% have blood lead levels elevated to dangerous levels, Wolf said.
Wolf said 160,000 Pennsylvania homes and businesses still have lead service lines, and 70% of homes were built before lead paint was banned in 1978. Remediating all that lead is an expensive proposition, but Wolf’s $4.5 billion Restore Pennsylvania plan has failed to receive bipartisan support.
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