Heavy Metal Poison

1786	Benjamin Franklin warns about the "bad Effects of lead taken inwardly."
1978	Almost two hundred years later, U.S. makes lead paint illegal.
1991	One in five children, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, have blood lead levels in the toxic range.
1992	Childhood exposure to lead lowers IQs.
1992	30 million homes in the U.S. still have lead painted surfaces.
1993	National Toxics Education Campaign is cut. Without information, people cannot protect themselves against hidden poisons.

Lead paint came back to us in a nightmare,
broad brushstroke across a country, leaving
lead dust on doorsteps, lead chips on windowsills,
lead leeched into the water. It poisoned Ariel and
Jose Alfredo, Linda Sue and Meiling, Jeremiah,
Rhonda and Thomas. It stole calcium from their bones
and brains cells from their future like a monster
undressing them in their sleep


- Frances Payne Adler © 1993

Kira Carrillo Corser © 1993

Jose Alfredo

Sofia Rodriguez' son Jose Alfredo was almost a year old when she found out he was lead poisoned by the paint in their home. His blood lead level was 24. When she and her husband asked the landlord to remove the lead paint, they were evicted. After living in a shelter for seven months, his blood lead level is down to 12. The family has recently moved into a lead-free flat.

When Alfredo was less than a year old, he had very bad diarrhea.
He would space out, just stay kind of gone, he would nod out,
sometimes he had spasms. He had a glazed look, wouldn't answer
when we talked to him. So I took him to the hospital.

At first they just told me to watch his diet, feed him rice water, bran,
sodas. Then they did the screen for lead at the clinic and the nurse
visited us at home. She said the house was very old, that the paint
was dangerous. In the bathroom, when you took a shower, the water
pressure made the paint chip off the walls. When I mopped the floor
and squeezed out the mop, paint chips would get all over my hands.

When the baby was in his crib, he'd touch the walls, and put his hands
in his mouth. When he crawled around on the carpet, he'd get lead dust
between his fingers, then he'd put them in his mouth.

When we asked the landlord to do something about it, she did nothing.
We didn't want to cause any problems, didn't want to give her an excuse
to evict us. Then she asked us to move.

Alfredo's better now, even though we've bounced around for months.
We thank God that we're out of there .

Sometimes there are people who take advantage of low-income tenants.
We kept quiet for so long. We didn't know there are laws that would
have protected us. I want people to know that if they find themselves
in a situation like ours, they should seek out help. If you're living in a garage
or a tiny place and putting up with abuse out of poverty, you don't have to do it.

Frances Payne Adler © 1993