13
Aug
2013
The Scott County Health Department, in partnership with the City of Davenport, announces this week the beginning of an awareness campaign, entitled "Live Lead Free", about lead paint and its effects. The goal is to promote testing of homes built before 1978, and of children six years of age and under.
The program and its services are made possible through a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will commemorate the 35 with a tie to unleaded gasoline. Selected Hy-Vees, Casey's General Stores, and Mother Hubbard's Cupboards in the county will feature gas pump public service ads with the campaign image.
Lead was eliminated from paint in 1978 and from gasoline in 1995. However, homes built before 1978 may still harbor exposed lead paint. The campaign provides information from the Scott County Health Department ) on screenings of at-risk dwellings (563-326-8618) and free health screenings for children up to six years of age (www.scottcountyiowa.com/health/lead.php).
Children six and under are especially prone to exposure and the effects of lead paint, and should be tested every year beginning at one year of age until six years of age. Iowa law requires that all children entering kindergarten show proof of one lead test.
"With the removal of lead from gasoline, one source of lead in the environment was eliminated.
However, many county residents are living in homes that still contain exposed lead paint," said Edward Rivers, Director of the Scott County Health Department. "Placing our message at gas pumps is a very direct way of getting it out, and the comparison with unleaded gasoline is thought-provoking. It will be seen every day by a large number of people, and we hope it will reach those who need it most. We thank our partners in the community for making this possible."
For more information on living lead free, visit the Scott County Health Department's Web site at www.scottcountyiowa.com/health
The program and its services are made possible through a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will commemorate the 35 with a tie to unleaded gasoline. Selected Hy-Vees, Casey's General Stores, and Mother Hubbard's Cupboards in the county will feature gas pump public service ads with the campaign image.
Lead was eliminated from paint in 1978 and from gasoline in 1995. However, homes built before 1978 may still harbor exposed lead paint. The campaign provides information from the Scott County Health Department ) on screenings of at-risk dwellings (563-326-8618) and free health screenings for children up to six years of age (www.scottcountyiowa.com/health/lead.php).
Children six and under are especially prone to exposure and the effects of lead paint, and should be tested every year beginning at one year of age until six years of age. Iowa law requires that all children entering kindergarten show proof of one lead test.
"With the removal of lead from gasoline, one source of lead in the environment was eliminated.
However, many county residents are living in homes that still contain exposed lead paint," said Edward Rivers, Director of the Scott County Health Department. "Placing our message at gas pumps is a very direct way of getting it out, and the comparison with unleaded gasoline is thought-provoking. It will be seen every day by a large number of people, and we hope it will reach those who need it most. We thank our partners in the community for making this possible."
For more information on living lead free, visit the Scott County Health Department's Web site at www.scottcountyiowa.com/health
