LaDawn Hester hadn?t thought much about her 2-year-old daughter?s risk of lead poisoning until six months ago, when the doctor delivered the bad news.
“I hit panic mode,” said Hester, 24, recalling when Laila?s blood test showed 23 micrograms per deciliter, a dangerously high level.
“I had no idea what to do, where it was coming from.”
So much attention has been paid to abating lead in rental properties, but in this case Hester?s mother owns the home where she and her mother have lived for 17 years. She?s not even sure the previous homeowners tested for lead, Hester said.
“It always sat in the back of my mind, but it never registered that she could have elevated [lead] levels,” Hester said Wednesday, sitting in Laila?s bright-pink and purple room.
Now, Laila isamong the growing number of lead poisoning cases in owner-occupied homes in Baltimore.
Although the overall number of lead poisoning cases has continued to decline, they are more likely to be found in owner-occupied homes, said Madeleine Shea, assistant commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department?s Healthy Homes Division.
“Some of the housing stock that is privately owned is in bad shape,” Shea said.
Many lower-income homeowners can?t afford the expenses of remediating lead paint or don?t have anywhere else to live, she said.
“The good news is we are finding these kids so we can bring help to that family” in the form of federal and state grants, Shea said.
For Hester, moving from their Belair-Edison home wasn?t an option.
“It?s the only home I?ve ever really known, and it?s her home,” Hester said, pointing to Laila playing on the rug in front of her.
In the meantime, she has been approved for a grant to cover the cost of remediating the lead paint and is awaiting contractors to do the work.
Lead poisoning can cause physical and cognitive impairment in young children, such as hyperactivity, aggressive behavior and a lowered IQ. High lead levels can cause severe disabilities, coma and death, according to the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.
Laila so far hasn?t shown any signs of impairment from the poisoning, Hester said.
Property owners of rental properties built before 1950 are required to register with the state, do certain treatment and notify tenants, said Alvin Bowles, program manager for the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at the Maryland Department of the Environment.
For owners of homes built between 1950 and 1978, it?s optional.
Just as the cases in pre-1950 rental houses have declined, health officials want to see the same dip in owner-occupied homes, Bowles said.
“We are trying to redirect some focus on those houses, so we can at least make them aware there is a potential [for lead paint],” he said.
Ruth Ann Norton, executive director of the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, said the overall decline in cases is “very important,” but added the country, state and city still have a goal of zero lead cases by 2010.
Advocates must work to see the laws modernized to better address owner occupied homes, she said.
“Homeowners need to pay attention too,” Norton said.
