Only two out of 410 children tested in the Anniston area for lead showed dangerously high levels of the element in their blood.Now some people may take that as an encouraging sign. It is not. Especially when you consider that more than 25 percent of the children tested had been exposed to lead, having levels slightly below the threshold deemed by the Centers for Disease Control to be dangerous.
That is something to be awfully concerned about because there is no debate about the adverse health-related effects of lead. It is dangerous, especially to children.
As far as we are concerned any exposure to lead is too much. Therefore we need to do whatever we can to get it cleaned up or to protect our children from it. And we need to get a handle on just how serious this problem is.
And that points toward what this community has been asking after quite some time now: a comprehensive health study for the entire community.
We are appreciative of the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for conducting the study. But we need much more.
We are after all a community that has a pollution problem, but we are left wondering just exactly how serious this problem is. Parts of the area are contaminated with PCBs but do we have a higher occurrence of PCB-related illnesses than other communities? Do we have higher levels of illnesses related to lead exposure than other communities? What about our overall health? Isn’t it important that we have a detailed sketch of the health of the area before we decide on the extent of the cleanup and before the incinerator begins operating?
Of course we do. That is why we need this study and we continue to be perplexed as to why the federal government has not initiated one. Yes, we currently have a good program that EPA is funding to look at early childhood health, but it is not the comprehensive study that will answer the tough questions.
To the decision-makers at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control, then, let this most recent news about lead be just one more reason why Anniston and the surrounding area should have a comprehensive health study. We want it and we need it now.
