Today’s post isn’t really
about radiation but it is about another topic that isn’t widely known about,
the lead poisoning problem in New Orleans. Admittedly, I only found out about
it two weeks ago when I was there for spring break but I think it is super important
that people find out about the things that affect our country.
New Orleans is one of the
older cities in the United States. It was originally founded May of 1718 by the
French Mississippi company. It has, since then, passed through Spanish hands
before being sold to the US. New Orleans also saw some big changes during the
civil war. Most recently, New Orleans was deeply affected by Katrina. Through
all that the city has been through, it still contains a large “old world”
problem, LEAD PAINT. Lead paints cover a large amount of property in New
Orleans and it’s a huge problem, especially in impoverished areas.
What happens is this: Say
your door is old and the paint is starting to chip so you want to replace it.
What’s the first things you do? Sand off the old paint so you can put a clean
coat on top. What you didn’t know is that the old paint was lead based so now
you’ve released tons of little lead particles into the air. Now, you, your
children, and your neighbors can inhale these particles. This kind of release
of lead is very dangerous and it’s an incredibly prevalent problem in poor
neighborhoods that either don’t know they have lead paint or don’t know how to
prevent releases. Additionally, the lead will also contaminate the topsoil.
Lead is incredibly toxic and
lead poisoning can lead to a bunch of problems such as lower IQs, learning disabilities, attention problems, and brain damage. Problems are so prevalent that my cousin, who works in a public school in New
Orleans, said that if a child is constantly acting up they recommend that
parents have them tested…for lead! In screenings done in 2013, the Louisiana Department of
Health and Hospitals reported that nearly a thousand children six years and
younger—15 percent—had levels high enough to be deemed lead poisoning.
Awareness of an issue is the
first step to fixing it. So now that you know, go do something. Contribute to
clean up efforts, inform someone else, or do both. The most important thing is
to not let this problem be ignored.
Even after visiting NOLA I was unaware of the problem - until now! For the cases of laziness or preservation, I have no sympathy. By this, I mean that those who are knowingly choosing not to remove lead paint from the exterior of their homes are contributing to a serious problem. It is no longer acceptable to give the reason of 'preserving old ways' in light of evidenced harm. Makes me upset sometimes when geezers hang on to traditions or possessions which benefit few and harm the innocent.
ReplyDeleteAre there good ways to detecting high concentrations of lead (in paint or other commons areas) and removing the danger? Sounds a lot like the problem of mercury in foodstuff (ie tuna) to me.
ReplyDeleteThere is a way to detect lead. Lead tests are actually pretty simple. As for removing the danger of lead, it depends on where the lead is. Contaminated soil is usually just removed. In cases that the contamination reaches too deep in the soil, the top layer would be removed and a tarp would be laid down. New, clean soil would be put on top of the tarp. As for lead paint, that is usually slowly being phased out. As lead paint is discovered it can be sanded off when wet (to prevent lead dust). There's little that can be done (or is being done, I don't know which) to prevent the dangers of lead.
DeleteWow this was really eye-opening! I had no clue about this problem, which seems a little bit crazy since New Orleans is such a popular trip destination and is talked about all the time. You'd think with those kinds of numbers of lead poisoning in KIDS that this would be bigger news and more would be done to try to stop it.
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