jward@observertoday.com
Due to an older housing stock in Chautauqua County, lead paint poisoning remains an issue for many youth especially those spending added time in their homes due to COVID-19. This month, representatives from the Chautauqua County Health Department told the Dunkirk Common Council about the growing problem earlier this month.
“We have old windows, old doors, old paint on the front porches. You walk across that porch, you open those windows, you’re creating a friction on the impact surface that’s creating lead dust that’s tracked into the house and kids are crawling across the floor and then they’re putting their hands in their mouth,” said county Lead Program Coordinator Anna Powell. “Right now at the Health Department we have an elevated blood level program that after a kid has already been lead poisoned, we go in and do a housing inspection. In October of 2019 that level was actually 15 so this level hasn’t always been 5 mcg/dL (which is th