Indiana Lead-Safe and Healthy Homes Newsletter

Improving Kids’ Environment (IKE) and the Indiana Lead-Safe and Healthy Homes Task Force publish this newsletter several times a year at no charge for anyone interested in issues and events involving lead poisoning prevention and healthy homes in Indiana. Distribution is by email or fax – preferably by e-mail. Contact the editor, Janet G. McCabe, at mccabe@ikecoalition.org or 317-902-3610 if you have comments, information you would like included, or want to get on or off the distribution list. All editions are available on IKE’s web page at http://www.ikecoalition.org/publications.htm.

IKE is nearing the end of its fiscal year (July 31) and needs your help. We have been fortunate to receive generous funding from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust for the past two years to underwrite our operating expenses, but that grant is coming to an end. It doesn’t take much to run this organization, but it does take something. We need to raise $6,500 to meet our fundraising goal by the end of the year. Please consider making a tax deductible contribution--of any size—it would be most appreciated. You can mail a check made out to Improving Kids’ Environment to 1201 N. Central Ave #9, Indianapolis, IN 46202 or make a contribution electronically through JustGive.org (click here). Thank you for your support and for all you do to improve our kids’ environment and health!

Responding to Sierra Club/IKE Lawsuit, EPA Takes Action on Lead in Toy Jewelry

In settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and IKE, EPA has agreed to:

· Send a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (which has started a rulemaking on this issue) raising concerns about quality control of children’s jewelry for lead hazards;

· Recommend that lead in children’s products be included in future EPA regulation. EPA also agreed to pay the Sierra Club’s attorneys fees, an indication of the merit of the complaint.

Just a reminder of why the case just described is so important. Here is the list of recalls issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in March-May due to lead hazards—more than 6 million individual items across the country:

· Children’s Turquoise Rings sold in vending machines (Cardinal Distributing);

· Children’s Necklaces, Bracelets and Rings (Spandrel Sales and Marketing Inc.);

· Children’s Rings with Dice or Horseshoes (Cardinal Distributing)—2^nd recall!;

· Children’s Charm Bracelets and “Sportswear” Necklaces (Cardinal Distributing);

· Budding Gardener Complete Gardening Set-gardening gloves (MTD Products/Troy-Bilt); and

· Invincible Transporters’ Converters Toy Set (Army & Air Force Exchange Service).

The State Health Commissioner, Dr. Judy Monroe, has announced her commitment to proposing comprehensive lead legislation aimed at protecting Hoosiers from the hazards of lead based paint and other lead related products in next year’s legislative session. Many partners have come forth and offered their support for this important legislation. ISDH states that a steering committee will be formed in the next month to begin work on identifying needs and drafting language. For information, contact Dave McCormick at 317-233-1293 or dmccormick@isdh.in.gov.

ISDH and IDEM are working to transfer responsibility for Lead Licensing and Training to the ISDH Lead program. IDEM will finish out the current grant year (through September 31) and ISDH will take over on October 1. IKE applauds this change. It will be good for all the lead related programs to be in a single agency, as it is all the other Region V states.

Risk Assessors Needed for Beta Testing New Risk Assessment Forms and Database Available

ISDH is calling on all risk assessors to help with beta testing of the standardized Risk Assessment Forms and Database. The more people try the system out, the better it will be, so please help. Contact Jeff Turner at jturner@isdh.in.gov or (317) 233-1250 to get signed up.

The Indiana State Department of Health has held four trainings on the new case management rule, two in Indianapolis, one in Elkhart and one in Marshall County. The trainings have been well attended and generate a lot of questions and great discussion on the rule. The next training will be in Seymour on June 26. If you are interested in attending a training or hosting a training in your area, please contact Dr. Lloyd Flowers, ICLPPP Health Educator at 317-233-1290 or by e-mail at lflowers@isdh.in.gov.

ISDH Lead Report to General Assembly for CY2006 Shows More Children Tested, Poisoning Rates About the Same, Too Many Children “Lost”

On March 30, ISDH transmitted the report required by IC 16-41-39.4-5 to the General Assembly about childhood lead poisoning and primary prevention efforts in 2006. The report is well done, though ISDH is still struggling with its developing data systems to provide accurate data on several of the metrics required by the law, especially those related to housing. Some highlights from the report are:

· the number of children screened is increasing (53,708 in 2006 compared to 43,120 in 2005),

· the cumulative number of children with elevated blood lead levels is at least 4,035 since 1999

· of 1,189 children with an initial test result of blood lead level >10 µg/dL, 307 were “lost,” i.e. never had a followup confirmatory test.

If you have questions about the report, contact Tom Reel at treel@isdh.in.gov or (317) 234-2273.

IKE Receives Grant to Help Local Government with Health and Housing Code Enforcement

Most of the health and housing codes in Indiana require safe housing generally, but they do not mention lead hazards specifically. Most don’t even specify that peeling paint is a violation. The more specific the rule, the more likely property owners will address lead hazards and the easier it will be to enforce. IKE has been notified that it will receive an EPA Lead Grant to work with local governments to strengthen their local codes to address lead hazards more specifically and to make enforcement more efficient and effective. This effort has begun with the distribution to local health departments of a Menu of Options for Housing Code Provisions that address lead hazards. Contact Janet at mccabe@ikecoalition.org if you would like to get started or more information on this project.

Gary Health Department Receives EPA Lead Grant for Prenatal Primary Prevention

Congratulations to the Gary Health Department, which received a $100,000 grant from the EPA that will integrate the assessment of lead hazards into prenatal care coordination. The local prenatal care coordination program (PNCC) has agreed to train their prenatal staff that are already performing home visits to low-income, primarily Medicaid-eligible, pregnant women residing in high-risk communities to provide lead poisoning prevention education and anticipatory guidance, conduct visual assessments of the home, become lead sampling technicians and collect pre-and-post dust wipe samples from the floors and windows in the areas where the children will spend the most time. Any home found to have hazards upon the visual and/or the dust wipe levels will undergo a complete risk assessment by a licensed Risk Assessor. Families will receive lead dust reduction cleaning demonstrations, cleaning supplies, referrals for available lead hazard control resources, and lead-safe work practices training. Gary’s goal is to make the homes of 200 pregnant women lead-safe prior to the children being born.

HUD has extended the deadline for grant applications for Lead and Healthy Homes grants until June 15, and several Indiana communities are preparing applications, including Gary, Evansville, Vigo County, Elkhart and Indianapolis (for a Healthy Homes Demonstration grant). In addition, the analytics consulting firm Quantec is preparing a proposal to create a dynamic data base that will provide agencies (nearly) real-time feedback on how well their funded project is doing in achieving its objectives and program outcomes. Development of this tool will assist future applicants to develop the most effective projects.

Thanks to IKE’s partnership with the Indiana Black Expo’s Get the Lead Out program, volunteers in 8 Indiana cities will be visiting their local hardware and paint stores to see if they are giving good advice about working with lead-based paint and if they carry necessary supplies, such as Lead Check swabs. Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Gary are the first wave, with Evansville, East Chicago, Anderson and Elkhart to follow. If you want to know more about what the IBE campaign will be doing in your community, or want to help, contact the IBE at leadoutreach@indianablackexpo.com or visit the IBE website at www.indianablackexpo.com/programs/leado.html.

146 people attended the first ever Indiana Summit on Children’s Health and the Environment on April 13 at IUPUI in Indianapolis. The topics were timely and interesting (fine particle air pollution, environmental threats in the home, and endocrine disruptors), the speakers were excellent, and the afternoon workgroup discussions well attended and productive. Look for follow-up, especially by the Health Homes group. One of the best parts of the Summit was that we achieved our goal of bringing together a wide diversity of attendees: state and local officials and agency staff, academics, physicians, advocates on both the health and environmental side, students and members of the public. Materials from the Summit are available at http://www.ceh.iu.edu/issue_papers.php.

Dave McCormick joins ISDH as Lead Program Director. Dave McCormick has joined the ISDH Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program as Director, after 17 years of service in the Marion County Health Department. Dave can be reached at 317-233-1293 or dmccormick@isdh.in.gov.

ISDH welcomes new lead epidemiologist. This important role is now being filled by Syamalatha Dasari, who comes from the West Virginia State Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. She can be reached at 317-233-5605 or sdasari@isdh.in.gov.

 Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force Meeting in Indy. All are welcome to attend these meetings to discuss lead poisoning and healthy homes issues across Indiana. It is a great networking and planning opportunity. Contact Janet at mccabe@ikecoalition.org or at 317-902-3610 for details. We have a new meeting location! Anthem has generously offered its meeting room at 2425 N. Meridian, Suite A, including the use of a phone, so far-away people can call in. Good for time management and air quality! We usually coordinate the meetings with Indiana EPAC’s Housing Subcommittee meetings.

 Indiana Lead Elimination Plan Advisory Committee (EPAC) in Indy. The committee is charged with advising ISDH on the state’s implementation of the state lead elimination plan. The meetings are open to the public. The 2007 meetings are as follows, all at HUD’s Offices at 151 N. Delaware St., Suite 1200, unless otherwise noted in future newsletters.

· Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 10:00 to 12:00 at 151 N. Delaware, Indianapolis

· Accredited Lead Training at the Environmental Management Institute in Indy. Contact EMI at 800-488-8842 or www.envtlmgmt.org.

· National Center for Healthy Housing. The Center offers two training classes: Building Healthy Homes and Essentials for Healthy Homes Practitioners. Information about upcoming sessions is at http://www.healthyhomestraining.org/upcoming.htm.

· The Environmental Training Center in Cincinnati offers a variety of initial and refresher courses at locations in Cincinnati, OH and in Florence and Lexington, KY. Check their website at http://www.environmentaltraining.com/ for dates. The Center’s Lead Training courses are all accredited by the State of Indiana.

· EPA’s Distinguished Speakers Webcast Series has monthly webcasts on children’s health issues. You can register at OCHPWebcast@icfi.com. Upcoming topics include:

o The Truth about Children’s Environmental Health Disparities June 6 1-2:30 EDT

o Pregnancy and Environmental Health – Protecting the Next Generation September

o 2007 Indiana Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Conference. Getting closer: October 29-30 in Indianapolis. We are starting to plan for the conference, so if you have suggestions about speakers or session topics, please send them to Janet at mccabe@ikecoalition.org. A planning meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 19 at 1:30 at ISDH, 2 N. Meridian St. Indianapolis. All are welcome!

Thanks for improving kids' environment! If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter, IKE, or the Indiana Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Task Force, contact Janet G. McCabe at mccabe@ikecoalition.org, 317-902-3610 or 1201 N. Central Ave, #9, Indianapolis, IN 46202. If you need more information on national events, check out the Alliance Alert Newsletter at www.afhh.org and click on newsletter.

IKE also publishes a newsletter on a regular basis on general environmental topics. Contact Janet G. McCabe at mccabe@ikecoalition.org if you would like to receive that newsletter.

Thanks to the Boren Foundation and Karen Kay and Jack Leonard for making this newsletter and the work of the Task Force possible. While IKE appreciates their support, their sponsorship does not imply endorsement of IKE or the content of this webpage. IKE is wholly responsible for the

content of this newsletter.

Acronyms:

· ISDH = Indiana State Department of Health

· IDEM = Indiana Department of Environmental Management

· CDC = U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

· HUD = U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development