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Childhood lead poisoning: the torturous path from science to policy
David C. Bellinger, Andrew M. Bellinger
David C. Bellinger, Andrew M. Bellinger
Published April 3, 2006
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2006;116(4):853-857. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI28232.
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Science and Society

Childhood lead poisoning: the torturous path from science to policy

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Abstract

The long history of lead poisoning provides many lessons about the process by which scientific knowledge is translated into public health policy. In the United States, lead was added to paint and to gasoline in enormous quantities long after medical evidence clearly showed that excessive lead exposure caused considerable morbidity in the population. This article discusses some of the factors that contributed to the slow pace of efforts to address this problem, including the ubiquity and magnitude of lead exposure during much of the twentieth century, which produced a distorted notion about the blood lead level that can be considered “normal”; the prevailing model of disease during this period, notably the novelty of the concept of subclinical disease; the fact that childhood lead poisoning affected mostly families that were politically and economically disenfranchised, fostering a “blame the victim” attitude; and that controlling lead exposure would have impeded efforts to achieve other desirable goals, illustrating the role that value trade-offs often play in policy decisions.

Authors

David C. Bellinger, Andrew M. Bellinger

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Figure 4

The Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program established by the 1992 Housing and Community Development Act ensures government action to control residential exposure to lead-based paint.

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The Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program established by the 199...
Here a worker prepares a surface for wet scraping by saturating it with water during lead-based paint cleanup. The wet method offers the best control of airborne lead levels during removal of hazardous lead-based paint in residential areas. Image credit: Aaron L. Sussell, Centers for Disease Control Public Health Image Library.

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