Personal Injury Attorney serving the Bronx, Brooklyn, Kinston, Queens, Manhattan, Poughkeepsie, New York
Exposed to Lead? We Can Help.
Lead has long been recognized as a harmful environmental pollutant. In 1991, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services called lead the "number one environmental threat to the health of children in the United States." There are many ways in which humans are exposed to lead: through air, drinking water, food, contaminated soil, deteriorating paint, and dust. Airborne lead enters the body when an individual breathes or swallows lead particles or dust once it has settled. Lead has been used in paint, gasoline, water pipes, and many other products.
Old lead-based paint is the most significant source of lead exposure in the U.S. today. Harmful exposures to lead can be created when lead-based paint is allowed to remain on deteriorating surfaces such as cracked plaster walls or on old layers of paint that are cracked and crumbling. Lead hazards are created when lead is improperly removed (abated) from surfaces by creating dust from dry scraping, sanding, or open-flame burning.
The dangerous consequences of lead poisoning are well known. The risks to young children from contact with lead based paint has been recognized for decades. Even low levels of lead in the blood of young children is known to cause brain damage, diminished intelligence and behavioral problems that interfere with healthy growth and development. Lead based paint has not been allowed for use in housing for nearly fifty years yet the problem remains - lead based paint covered by newer paint - no less dangerous just because it cannot be seen.
Ingestion of lead, even low levels, over time, causes serious health problems, especially in children but also in adults. Lead poisoning is usually caused by property owners who fail to protect their tenants and guests. The landlord's responsibility to his or her tenants is mandated by law. A landlord is responsible when he/she knows that a child six years of age or younger lives in an apartment - in a building constructed before the use of lead based paint was prohibited (generally before 1960 in New York) - where the landlord has a right to enter the apartment to make repairs - and where the landlord knows or should know of cracked and/or peeling paint.
At the Law Offices of Charles N. Rock in New York, our personal injury attorney helps clients throughout the northeast U.S. - including Bronx, Brooklyn, Kinston, Queens, Manhattan, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie, New York - pursue legal action against those responsible for lead poisoning. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with experienced personal injury lawyer Charles Rock.
Understanding the Causes and Effects of Lead Poisoning
Our lead poisoning attorney and legal team believes in raising awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning - by doing so we hope to prevent other children from suffering the consequences. According the United States Environmental Protection Agency, there are steps you can take to reduce exposure to lead:
- Keep areas where children play as dust-free and clean as possible.
- Leave lead-based paint undisturbed if it is in good condition; do not sand or burn off paint that may contain lead.
- Do not remove lead paint yourself.
- Do not bring lead dust into the home.
- If your work or hobby involves lead, change clothes and use doormats before entering your home.
- Eat a balanced diet, rich in calcium and iron.
Keep areas where children play as dust-free and clean as possible.
Mop floors and wipe window ledges and chewable surfaces such as cribs with a solution of powdered automatic dishwasher detergent in warm water. (Dishwasher detergents are recommended because of their high content of phosphate.) Most multi-purpose cleaners will not remove lead in ordinary dust. Wash toys and stuffed animals regularly. Make sure that children wash their hands before meals, nap time, and bedtime.Reduce the risk from lead-based paint.
Most homes built before 1960 contain heavily leaded paint. Some homes built as recently as 1978 may also contain lead paint. This paint could be on window frames, walls, the outside of homes, or other surfaces. Do not burn painted wood since it may contain lead.Leave lead-based paint undisturbed if it is in good condition, do not sand or burn off paint that may contain lead.
Lead paint in good condition is usually not a problem except in places where painted surfaces rub against each other and create dust (for example, opening/closing windows or doors that are painted with lead based paint).Do not remove lead paint yourself.
Individuals have been poisoned by scraping or sanding lead paint because these activities generate large amounts of lead dust. Consult your state health or housing department for suggestions on which private laboratories or public agencies may be able to help test your home for lead in paint. Home test kits cannot detect small amounts of lead under some conditions. Hire a person with special training for correcting lead paint problems to remove lead-based paint. Occupants, especially children and pregnant women, should leave the building until all work is finished and clean-up is done.
For additional information dealing with lead-based paint abatement contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the following two documents: Comprehensive and Workable Plan for the Abatement of Lead-Based Paint in Privately Owned Housing: Report to Congress (December 7, 1990) and Lead-Based Paint: Interim Guidelines for Hazard Identification and Abatement in Public and Indian Housing (September 1990).
Do not bring lead dust into the home.
If you work in construction, demolition, painting, with batteries, in a radiator repair shop or lead factory, or your hobby involves lead, you may unknowingly bring lead into your home on your hands or clothes. You may also be tracking in lead from soil around your home. Soil very close to homes may be contaminated from lead paint on the outside of the building. Soil by roads and highways may be contaminated from years of exhaust fumes from cars and trucks that used leaded gas. Use door mats to wipe your feet before entering the home. If you work with lead in your job or a hobby, change your clothes before you go home and wash these clothes separately. Encourage your children to play in sand and grassy areas instead of dirt, which sticks to fingers and toys. Try to keep your children from eating dirt, and make sure they wash their hands when they come inside.
Eat right.
A child who gets enough iron and calcium will absorb less lead. Foods rich in iron include eggs, red meats, and beans. Dairy products are high in calcium. Do not store food or liquid in lead crystal glassware or imported or old pottery. If you reuse old plastic bags to store or carry food, keep the printing on the outside of the bag.
Lead affects practically all systems within the body. Lead at high levels (lead levels at or above 80 micrograms per deciliter of blood) can cause convulsions, coma, and even death. Lower levels of lead can cause adverse health effects on the central nervous system, kidney, and blood cells. Blood lead levels as low as 10 micrograms per deciliter can impair mental and physical development. EPA's Integrated Risk Information System profile on Lead and Lead Compounds - epa.gov/iris/subst/0277.htm
The effects of lead exposure on fetuses and young children can be severe. They include delays in physical and mental development, lower IQ levels, shortened attention spans, and increased behavioral problems. Fetuses, infants, and children are more vulnerable to lead exposure than adults since lead is more easily absorbed into growing bodies, and the tissues of small children are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Children may have higher exposures since they are more likely to get lead dust on their hands and then put their fingers or other lead-contaminated objects into their mouths.
If you are concerned that you or your child may be suffering from lead poisoning, our team of lead poisoning experts can help you determine the potential source of lead exposure and the connection between that exposure and any symptoms you are seeing.
Taking Action Against Negligent Property Owners
If you or your child has been exposed to lead, our personal injury law firm can help you seek fair compensation for the harm that has been done. Lead poisoning is both extremely dangerous and very preventable; there is no reason why it should be allowed to happen to you.
Personal Injury Attorney Charles Rock and our legal team are experienced at holding property owners accountable for lead in buildings such as rental properties, day care centers and schools.
Don't hesitate to contact us to discuss what we can do to help you pursue justice and money damages for injuries caused by lead poisoning.
