SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Tribune hosted Tribune Talk: Lead in the Soil on Aug. 14 featuring panelists in the lead field who make daily efforts to understand and help residents with lead issues in St. Joseph County.
Panelists included Marya Lieberman, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame and an analytical chemist for the ND Lead Innovation Team, Briannah McCall, Assistant Director of the St. Environmental Health Unit from the St. Joseph County Department of Health, and Kathy Schuth, the executive director of the the Near Northwest Neighborhood and co-founder of the South Bend Lead Affinity Group. The trio discussed their personal experiences of helping residents affected by lead in the county.
Areas most at risk
Neighborhoods at risk of elevated lead levels are in areas with older housing stock built before 1978, the year lead paint was banned in the United States. It's estimated that 70% of the homes in St. Joseph County and 80% of homes in South Bend have lead. Schuth mentioned that Lakeville and New Carlisle as well as census tract six, in the Near Northwest and Kennedy Park neighborhoods in South Bend are some areas at risk, based on prior testing.
The Department of Health is seeing “pockets” of areas with lead exposure, with open cases in homes built along the St. Joseph River, McCall said. “It makes sense that our oldest houses are following the river and that, in time, that would mean that more children were exposed to lead in those houses,” she said.
Lead testing resurgence after COVID-19 pandemic
A December 2018 publication “Inconsistent screening for lead endangers vulnerable children: policy lessons from South Bend and Saint Joseph County, Indiana, USA,” from University of Notre Dame Associate Professor Heidi Beidinger at the Eck Institute for Global Health and co-founder of the Lead Affinity Group showed that over 30% of kids tested in census tract six of South Bend had an elevated blood lead level, but Schuth said very few kids were tested. Only 10% of the kids in the age range that should have been tested were tested, she said. More so, during the COVID-19 pandemic, lead testing declined.
Early in the pandemic, people were staying home, McCall said, adding that lead testing children was “one of 9,000 things to worry about” at that time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children get tested for lead at 12 and 24 months old.
“It's tied to developmental milestones,” Lieberman said, as kids start to crawl, pull up, and have hand-to-mouth behavior.
As of June 30, in a county-wide effort, 2,045 lead tests were completed, McCall announced. It's the highest year-to-date total the county has had since before COVID, she said. During that time, there was a huge decline in the amount of tests that needed to be done and for a while, the amount was regressing, McCall said.
Though the number of tests are going back up, she said, “it's still not where we need it to be.”
Lead found on pets
The ND Innovation Team provides free lead screening kits for residents to collect samples of paint or soil in their home and return them for testing. The team tells residents the lead readings on the samples provided. While working with a school, Lieberman said, a student brought back a sample of pet fur.
“What we found was, if there's lead in the dust in the house, then often there was lead in the pet fur,” she said.
Lead is not any good for our pets any more than it's good for ourselves or our children, Lieberman said, likening pets to “little walking dusters.” Pets can be exposed from the dust in the house or by chewing. She recommended reducing the level of dust by cleaning and if an owner has a dog that chews, check to see if there's leaded paint.
Lead in rental homes
Lead found in rental homes is a major issue the Department of Health sees, McCall said, because there's no control over what a landlord will decide to do about it.
“You should be aware,” McCall said. “If you have these concerns, you absolutely should look into it.”
In McCall's experience, property owners fix the issues. People don't want to be responsible for a child that has lead poisoning, she said, but added that some property owners don't seem to care.
For tenants who are afraid of eviction if they say something about lead on the property, McCall said to contact Lieberman's team at the ND Innovation Lab for testing. In this situation, the lab won't report the data to property owners, McCall said and Lieberman confirmed. The Health Department does tell owners that their property was tested and what the findings were, but they don't want to put a tenant's housing situation at risk.
Tips for remediating lead in the home
McCall said any paint that looks like an alligator pattern more likely is leaded. She listed simple things owners can do to decrease the exposure, such as wet dusting or using a Swiffer that will pick up lead dust and throw it away, as opposed to a reusable mop that will spread lead dust around. She also suggesting moving cribs away from an area with peeling paint to decrease the time exposed to leaded areas.
Lieberman said one source of lead dust in the home is from “friction.” A home with double-hung windows that slides up and down to open grinds the paint into dust each time it's used. “The amount of lead on window sills can be 10 to 20 times higher than lead on floors nearby,” she said.
Lieberman recommended checking if a home has leaded paint before beginning home renovations. At times, a DIY project can create more problems and cost more in the long run.
The city of South Bend offers a grant up to $20,000 for safe repairs and removal by an Indiana-licensed lead abatement contractor. The owner will need to meet the eligibility requirements, including that the home is in South Bend and built before 1978, the annual household income is below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) as determined by HUD — a four-person household earning $71,200 or less would be eligible — and a child under 6 years old or a pregnant woman currently lives in the home.
Need help?
Any lead-related inquiries about upcoming events or information can be sent to the panelists, Marya Lieberman (mlieberm@nd.edu), Kathy Schuth (nnndirector@nearnorthwest.org) and the St. Joseph County Department of Health can be reached through Micaela Enright (menright@sjcindiana.com).
Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com .
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