Burlington has about 10,000 lead-contaminated properties, and the number is changing slowly, despite millions of dollars in federal grants and years of local education.

The education will be on display at City Hall for the rest of the month, following an art-exhibit opening Tuesday.

The city’s lead program partnered with Burlington City Arts and the Boys and Girls Club, talked to children about lead hazards, and then provided art supplies. The youngsters created drawings about the lead problem.

The point was to get the children involved and to have them take what they learned home to their parents, said Jeff Tanguay, who coordinates the city lead program, based in the city’s Community Economic Development Office.

Second-grader Madeleine Baker, 7, of H.O. Wheeler School won the first-place award in the CEDO-judged contest, getting a city certificate and a $40 gift certificate for Toys R Us for a drawing of an eye keeping watch on children (to help them stay safe) and a carrot-eating bunny (carrots decrease the absorption rate of lead) warning to “Stay Lead Safe.”Mayor Bob Kiss, who spoke at the opening of the exhibit, said the approach is a valuable opportunity to get the message out.

He gave certificates to all nine children who appeared for the art opening.

The main message the city wants the general public to understand, Tanguay said, is that lead poisoning is pervasive and totally preventable. It’s unclear, he said, how common lead poisoning is among children, because Vermont’s testing rates are inadequate.

According to 2008 data provided this year to the Legislature from the state Department of Health, about 79 percent of 1-year-old children were tested. The testing percentages fell as the child got older. Fifty-four percent of 2-year-olds were tested, but only 8 percent of 3-year-olds and 4.8 percent of 4-year-olds.

Tanguay said the poisoning rate spikes at ages 2 to 3. The children still are “on the floor” at that age, he said, but also are able to reach windows, whose frames in old houses are a prime source of flaking, lead-based paint.

As the testing rate goes up, Tanguay said, “they find more poisoned kids. The testing needs to be increased.”

Generally, he said, Vermont and Burlington have a relatively higher poisoning rate than much of the country, because of the age of the housing. Particularly in the Old North End, Tanguay said, many of the houses were built early in the 20th century.

How many Vermont children have been affected by lead is unclear, he said. While a level of 15 lead micrograms per deciliter of blood indicates “poisoning,” even lower levels are reflected in behavioral and health problems. Young children and pregnant women absorb the lead more quickly than do men, Tanguay said.

Lead poisoning leads to brain damage, lower IQ and lifelong health problems and has been linked to hyperactivity and, later, to incarceration, Tanguay said.

At lower levels of poisoning, children might exhibit “Monday morning” behavior such as crankiness, sleepiness and disruptive behavior. They might just not feel good, he said.

The state estimates direct costs to taxpayers of higher-level lead poisoning in additional health care, special education classes and incarceration at $15 million a year, Tanguay said. At lower levels, the costs jump to $80 million.

“There are hundreds and thousands of kids who have low levels in Vermont,” he said. “It’s a pervasive issue. The numbers have leveled off but have remained level for years.”


Contact John Briggs at 660-1863 or jbriggs@burlingtonfreepress.com.