Since it is known that a child’s health and development is negatively affected by exposure to lead and lead-based objects in their environment, health officials say parents need to advocate for their children and get them tested for exposure and their home tested inside and outside for the presence of lead. Especially where pregnant women and children age 6 and younger reside or spend time
The City of St. Louis has an ongoing lead remediation program, paid for in part by a federal HUD grant and with revenue generated from the Building Permit and Housing Conservation Certificate of Inspection. The City spends about $3 million annually to remediate lead. In 2003, Mayor Francis Slay launched Lead Safe St. Louis (leadsafestlouis.com), to connect families to testing and to remediation services to reduce and eliminate children’s exposure to lead and its harmful health effects.
Roy and Leola Smith learned about the city’s lead inspection program while taking landlord-training classes. A subsequent inspection resulted in remediation of several areas in their home, including windows, doorways and the back porch. Roy Smith said lead was everywhere.
“The city had a program to get rid of the lead by putting new windows in,” Roy Smith said.
“They don’t mess with stained windows, but what they did, they painted the outside,” of the stained windows, Leola Smith added.
Lead-based paint inside the house in a doorway was painted over to contain it. Chipped paint is a particular hazard for young children who put everything in their mouth.
“The lead – it peels off and little kids will pick it up. They said it’s sweet, so that’s how they think it’s candy – and they eat it,” Roy Smith said.
They want to make sure their home is safe for their grandchildren.
Each day as workers remediated the lead, the Smiths could not enter the home. Areas with lead were covered while workers remediated, and the spaces were cleaned up as they completed each area the Smiths could spend the night inside the home.
“As long as we are outside, they can be inside the house,” said Kerry Humphrey, who was the lead program manager in St. Louis’ Building Division before retiring recently.
The workers are trained in lead remediation.
“They are all licensed by the state of Missouri – they are all licensed lead abatement workers,” Humphrey said.  He added the in-house team does interim control – painting windows and doors, light patching in drywall. Full lead abatement is done by outside contractors.
Roy Smith added, “It was an excellent program – plus, it was free.”
“And what happened too,” Leola Smith said, “we only qualified for so much and they went back and got the difference from somewhere else. We didn’t even have to do anything.”
For St. Louis residents, call the Citizens’ Service Bureau at 314-622-4800 to schedule an appointment for the free lead inspection. If lead is discovered, the City will send property owners an application for financial assistance through its Lead Safe program.
The day we spoke to Humphrey, he and his team were soon on the move to another location with a pressing lead problem.
“We just got a call, we got a high priority child,” Humphrey said. “Luckily, it’s only one door that we got to go paint – but the kid is a 45 lead level.
“That’s high.”
Chelation is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for children with blood lead levels of 45 or higher micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. It is deemed an effective treatment for heavy metal poisoning. In the chelation process, a synthetic solution is injected into the bloodstream to bind with the lead or heavy metals/minerals to remove it from the body. Both are eliminated through the kidneys.
For more information on qualifying for lead remediation services in the City of St. Louis, call the Building Division at 641-8255 or 641-8327.
