UToledo helps with lead screenings, education
TOLEDO – In October 2020, Toledo City Council made a commitment to eradicate harmful lead exposure to all tenants, especially children, by passing an ordinance requiring all rental properties of 1-4 units and daycare facilities constructed prior to 1978 to be lead-safe certified.
The effects of elevated blood levels in children, particularly those six years old and younger, are well documented. It often results in behavioral issues, like hyperactivity and angry outbursts, and it also prevents children from progressing in their studies at the same rate as their peers.
While the lead-safe ordinance (TMC 1760) is an important first step in preventing children from lead exposure, putting it into action has proven to be a long road. The ordinance has experienced legal disputes: In 2022, a suit was filed against the city by landlord Charmarlyn Strong, resulting in an injunction. A judge did rule in favor of the ordinance last year, but the lawsuit is being appealed. Until the injunction is lifted, enforcement of the ordinance is on hold.
The ordinance created deadlines for rental properties and daycare facilities to have received their certifications, and while many have, the hold up in court has made it impossible to penalize those who haven’t complied. If the injunction is lifted, fines and penalties — even a first-degree misdemeanor — could be applied to those who haven’t gone through the certification process.
Monica Smith, lead coordinator for the City of Toledo, says that the compliance dates (many of which have long since past), are prioritized in order of lead risk.
“According to the CDC Center for Disease Control, every zip code in the city is considered high risk for land poisoning,” Smith said. “However, we know that some are higher than others. So, when the decision was made to create that timeline in regards to the compliance dates, that was based off the number of children who had elevated lead levels at that time. We prioritized the areas where the rates were higher.”
Steps for rental owners
The Lead Safe Toledo website makes it easy for Toledo renters and daycare facilities to become certified, but Smith has some tips to emphasize.
- Ensure your property has been registered with the Lucas County auditor’s office. It needs to be registered on the rental registry.
- Visit toledoleadsafe.com to learn how to clean the property prior to inspection.
- Identify the clearance technician or the risk assessor you’re going to hire to do your clearance examination on your property. Those are also listed on the Toledo Lead Safe website.
- Once you have hired one of these independent contractors to perform a clearance exam and received their report, go to the Toledo Lead Safe website to apply for your certificate ($25 fee).
All of these steps have links and resources on the website, including what your compliance date is for your property’s zip code.
Toledo – we have a problem
Teachers, parents and concerned community members have to remain diligent in advocating for kids facing health risks that could impact their lives well into adulthood.
Dr. Marilynne Wood, a retired professor of nursing at the University of Toledo, began screening children for lead poisoning over a decade ago and has since tested well over 1,000 children for exposure. Along with screenings and home visits, Wood leads educational initiatives at health fairs, churches and parent-teacher organizations, with the hope of raising awareness and making real change for these children.
Through these screenings she’s conducted with UT students from the College of Medicine and College of Nursing, Wood found that “we have a real issue in Toledo. Some of our areas, especially in the North End in Leverette, and some of our elementaries around there, when the children were screened, 70 percent of the children at Leverette were elevated. Ninety percent of our housing there was built before 1978, many of those homes even before 1950.”
1978 is when lead-based paint became illegal and, since then, there has been a long, slow movement toward dealing with the consequences it continues to leave in its hazardous wake. Central Toledo is particularly affected, and Wood has found a pervasive presence of lead in certain zip codes. She has served on the executive board of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Coalition for many years as well.
“I don’t see a trend of decrease over the city,” she points out. “Some of the zip codes are so predictable: 43605, 43607, 43608, 43609. Our Old South End. I’d like to target the schools in these areas because I know we need to do so many interventions there.”
Identifying lead poisoning and what you can do
The problem with identifying lead poisoning in children is that the symptoms are often not apparent until the child has been exposed for some time.
“A lot of parents don’t even know that this could be an issue and why their child isn’t doing very well in school,” says Wood, adding that it often becomes more obvious in the third grade. Falling behind even this early on can prevent a child from reaching their potential for years to come, and there is even evidence that lead poisoning correlates with rates of suspension in high school, Wood explains.
Once your child has been tested for lead poisoning, there are steps you can take to limit their exposure:
- Diminish the effects by making sure your child stays full (more lead is absorbed into the bloodstream on an empty stomach)
- Put them on a multivitamin and nutritious diet
- Pregnant moms-to-be should be mindful of their exposure to lead to maintain healthy fetal development
- Environmentally, you should have an assessor come to your home to see where the problem lies so that it can be addressed. Toledo Lucas County Health Department has resources to help you with finding an assessor and testing your child for lead.
- There might be peeling paint in the interior and/or exterior of the home, and lead could be present in the soil, contaminating it and any food you try to grow there. If this is the case, you should opt for elevated vegetable gardens to avoid these contaminants.
- The City of Toledo’s Department of Neighborhoods can also point residents, daycare owners, and landlords in the direction of funding through grants. All changes to the property may very well be covered for you as the homeowner, or for your landlord if you are renting.
In the meantime…
Even though enforcement of the lead ordinance is on hold, many owners of rental properties have taken the initiative to register their properties, go through any necessary lead abatement, and receive their certifications as lead safe properties.
For families who are living in a home with lead, there are still measures they can take to keep themselves as safe as possible from lead exposure.
Make sure your home and the daycare you send your child to are safe. If you work in an industry where you are exposed to lead — welding, for instance — avoid letting your child near you until you’ve changed your clothes. It can be difficult to remember these precautions, but the consequences of complacency are dire.
“If there’s a little one — a toddler, a child under six — in the home, those are the ones we’re most worried about because their brains are developing, and that’s the time for the most damage,” Dr. Wood said.
“I think on their list of things that are important [to many parents], it’s food and shelter and not worrying about what their [child’s] lead level is. And I think it’s such an important thing because it’s something we can do something about through education. These kids are completely dependent on where they live, and we need to help them.”
To seek testing for lead poisoning or to have your home inspected for lead, contact the Toledo Lucas County Health Department at 419-213-4100.
