SUMMARY OF KENNEDY-KRIEGER LEAD PAINT STUDY FACT SHEET
It is always a tragedy when a child is damaged by lead paint poisoning. Baltimore City, like most inner-cities in the U.S., has a heritage of houses filled with lead paint from a history of governmental tolerance of an identified poison. Lead paint poses hazards for all young children, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, where poor upkeep of properties dramatically increases the potential for children to swallow lead dust and eat paint chips.
The Kennedy Krieger Institute ("KKI") has long recognized the tragedy of lead paint poisoning and has been a leader in developing methods to safely reduce and control residential lead-based paint hazards to prevent poisoning in children.
As part of its commitment to children, KKI, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), explored a research study (the "Study") which encouraged landlords and owners to take advantage of State loan programs to make lead reduction improvements in homes and allowed KKI to measure if all three methods of improvements were equally effective. KKI knew from prior research in vacant homes that all three methods safely and significantly reduced lead dust levels in homes.
In discussing the Study, the press and the recent court decision portray the KKI researchers as ill-intentioned persons seeking to lure families into hazardous housing with intent to expose their children to lead while withholding results from their parents. The facts of the Study support quite a different picture — one where KKI facilitated safer housing for the participants and provided blood lead level testing, home lead surveillance and lead-safety education, all of which would not have been available without the Study.
The Study
The Study included five groups of homes: Three groups (the "Lead Reduction Homes") were improved by landlords and owners in accordance with the KKI previously tested improvement methods. Two groups were "control" groups: one included homes previously improved through a City lead abatement program and the other included new homes which were presumably lead free.
--All the families who lived in or moved into the Lead Reduction Homes had histories of living in non lead reduced homes.
-- Approximately one-half of the families living in the Lead Reduction Homes lived in those homes before and after the lead reduction interventions. The lead reduction program safely and significantly reduced lead levels in these homes.
The lead reduction loan program was offered through the Maryland Department of Housing and Development and the State's Residential Lead Paint Abatement Program. The Study was funded by the EPA, in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Study called for monitoring of blood levels in the children and dust levels in these homes. Children in the Study were tested regularly for blood lead levels and if blood levels were elevated, the family got immediate results. Dust levels also were measured and the results were provided to families, but on a less prompt basis due, in part, to testing specifications of the EPA.
-- In two court cases where families in the Study alleged delay in the reporting of dust testing results, KKI's insurance lawyers made a legalistic argument that KKI had "no legal duty" to report the dust lead levels to families. KKI regrets this technical argument and wants to reassure the public that in the Study, and in all past and future studies, KKI has been and is committed to the welfare of the families and all persons in its research studies.
-- These cases are now before the Circuit Court of Baltimore City and if KKI has done anything wrong, KKI accepts that responsibility.
The Results and Impact of the Study
All the lead reduction improvements involved in the Study significantly reduced dust lead levels. Blood lead levels in nearly all children in the Study declined, some by a significant amount.
The Study not only led to reduced overall blood lead levels in participants (most of whom had never even had those levels checked), but also triggered critically needed changes in lead abatement strategies at the federal, state and local level. Indeed, because of the Study's success in demonstrating affordable abatement methods, HUD has replicated this program in 13 other cities.
The Impact of the Court of Appeals Decision
In the KKI decision, the Court of Appeals made a sweeping ruling that no parent or surrogate can consent to the participation of a child or disabled person in non-therapeutic research in which there is any risk of injury or damage to the person. The decision requires court approval before this research may take place.
Unless this ruling is modified, significant and important research which often involves "minimal risk", e.g., blood drawing, surveys, over the counter drugs, etc., could not go forward without court approval. This ruling overrides the carefully crafted federal regulations governing non-therapeutic research in every other state. As a consequence, important research will not proceed and researchers likely will leave Maryland to perform research in other states.