By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention officials have announced they will continue their efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning in Aroostook County, thanks to a contract from Maine’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund.
The contract provides resources for Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention – community coalitions dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Aroostook County citizens through collaborative community action, education, and prevention – to go out into the community to protect the children most at risk for lead poisoning. The organizations’ outreach activities are focused on landlords who own old buildings, contractors who renovate old buildings, as well as the parents of young children who live in those older rental units or homes.
“We’ve accomplished all our goals set in our first lead poisoning prevention contract in 2009 and are excited to continue this work with the new contract,” said Shannon Hill, lead consultant for Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention. “In the beginning, we were building our program and assessing the community’s needs. Now we have an idea of the level of lead prevention awareness in Aroostook County, and are finding ways to heighten awareness in order to put a stop to childhood lead poisoning.”
Goals for the new 2010 contract include educating the public at area health fairs and trade shows, partnering with local municipalities and pediatricians, and continuing their efforts to provide lead renovation certification training in Aroostook County as long as there is a need for it.
“Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated training for landlords and contractors performing renovations on pre-1978 buildings,” Hill said. “We felt it was important to make those affected in Aroostook County aware of the new rules and offer the required training locally.”
To date, Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention have trained 357 individuals, mostly contractors and landlords. According to a survey of these individuals, approximately 40 percent indicated they would not have traveled outside Aroostook County for this training.
Dust from lead paint that was commonly used in houses and buildings built before 1950, and in some houses built before 1978, is by far the leading cause of childhood lead poisoning in Maine. As leaded paint gets old and breaks down, lead dust can build up on window sills and floors where children often put their hands, mouths and toys.
For young children, lead poisoning can cause very serious and long-term health effects like behavior problems, learning disabilities, speech and language delays, and lower intelligence. Often there are no signs or symptoms of illness that can alert a parent to a problem.
“Lots of parents and property owners in our community are unaware of the serious dangers of lead-based paint,” said Hill. “That’s why this lead poisoning prevention contract is so important, because it gives us at the local level the resources we need to help our community keep our kids safe.”
In 2005, the 122nd Maine Legislature established the Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund. Revenue for the fund comes from a 25 cents per gallon fee imposed on manufacturers or wholesalers of paint sold in Maine. It was established to provide resources to support lead poisoning prevention education, outreach and training programs. The fund has been awarding contracts to community organizations for lead poisoning prevention activities since 2009, for a total of $893,250. In the coming years, the Fund will continue its work to eliminate lead poisoning through community contracts and other prevention strategies, and will complete a comprehensive evaluation of its activities.
Anyone interested in lead poisoning prevention services provided by Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention can call the Presque Isle ACAP office at 768-3056 or log onto www.healthyaroostook.com.
