Silenced Epidemic: Lead Poisoning in Children

The document we are highlighting today is a memo from the Scientists' Committee for Public Information, Inc (SCPI). It is titled "Lead Poisoning in Slum Children" and dated 14th February, 1969.

The memo is a cry for public awareness and action towards the "silent epidemic" that is lead poisoning in children. They focus in on the racial and social aspects of the public health crisis, specifically examining low income housing in urban cities like New York, Baltimore, Chicago, and Cleveland.

"In Chicago, Cleveland and Baltimore, from 5-10% of children aged one to six living in poor housing have lead poisoning. New York City has 800,000 run-down housing units; using population figures, we get the conservative estimate that 9,000-18,000 children in New York presently have lead poisoning. (Health Department officials have estimated 25,000-35,000.) Yet only 600 cases are reported each year."

Considering the lower estimate of 25,000 cases, 600 reported is staggerringly low, weighing in at 2.4%. The memo attributes the low number of reported cases to lack of public awareness and the missable symptoms of lead poisoning, which include stomach pain, crankiness, and constipation. However, if left untested and untreated, lead poisoning results in brain damage and possible death.

The inequality in those who were affected was clearly visible in data. Children in low-income housing were more likely to develop lead poisoning because of old, neglected housing conditions. Thus the same groups were subjected to many different types of inequality--public health, social, economic--in a vicious snowball effect.