Golden Introduces Comprehensive Bill to End Child Lead Poisoning in American Homes

Statement

With more than 2,600 Maine children diagnosed or likely to have been diagnosed with lead poisoning in Maine in the past 5 years, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) introduced comprehensive legislation today that would direct the federal government to take the action necessary to end lead poisoning in American homes. Golden's Lead Free Future Act invests $2.5 billion dollars a year over five years in lead screening, education, and abatement over five years, enough to remove lead from more than 220,000 homes annually and screen millions more for presence of the poisonous metal.

In Maine, over 2,600 children were either diagnosed with lead poisoning or were likely to have been diagnosed with lead poisoning had they been screened over the last five years. In addition to the impacts on individual kids and families, lead poisoning places an enormous burden on victims' communities. Special education costs alone average $218,400 per poisoned child before they graduate high school, placing a $567 million burden on Maine communities just for children diagnosed in the last five years. When weighed against the education, public health, and services costs, lead abatement is a remarkably strong investment. For every dollar invested in lead control, between $17 and $221 are estimated to be returned to the community.

"Lead poisoning robs thousands of Maine kids of a healthy life and it costs our communities billions of dollars they desperately need. Yet our government has been content with a status quo that waits to remove lead from homes until after a child has been poisoned," said Golden."We need to change the way Washington addresses this problem and focus on eliminating lead from homes, plain and simple. The Lead Free Future Act will protect millions of young lives, save Maine communities millions of dollars, and make the investments we know we need to make to end lead poisoning in the home."

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