Lead Poisoning

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Lead poisoning is an important public policy issue because it affects our environment and even our way of living. Lead appears in our water and in the walls of older apartment buildings. Moreover, lead is a poisonous chemical that negatively affects a person’s health especially for children. In children lead poisoning can deter their mental and physical development. In the extreme case of a child named Joshua (as described in the article “Millions of American children missing early lead tests, Reuters finds” by Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell), he was found to have four times the level of lead poisoning. The symptoms he suffered from were vomiting, extreme anemia, sleeplessness and head banging. As opposed to adults who are exposed to high doses of lead, who can have an array of symptoms like memory loss, mood disorders and high blood pressure according to the article “Lead Poisoning” from the mayo clinic website. …show more content…
The event brought to light this issue of lead poisoning and helped to bring positive change that will help the situation nationwide. One example is the landmark legislation that Governor Andrew Cuomo passed for testing drinking water in schools. It was passed in September and it strives to test all drinking water for lead contamination in all schools by the end of 2016 (according to the Governor's website). In addition, it inspired my lab members at the Baruch Sleep and Environmental Sustainability lab to explore civilian's awareness of lead poisoning in the New York area and the ways that would help increase awareness. Through this research, we hope it leads to more testing of lead in apartment buildings and other institutions throughout the

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