Lead Poisoning Statistics

According to an August 23, 2006, Medical News Today article, New York City has made significant progress in downsizing the numbers of new childhood lead poisoning cases. While in 1995, there were 19,232 cases of lead poisoning reported among children ranging from six months to six years old, in 2005, there were 2,644 new lead poisoning cases. Although New York lead poisoning lawyers have seen a decline in new cases, parents shouldn’t discount the risk of lead poisoning in their children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that a child has been lead poisoned, if he or she has blood lead levels that register 10 mg/dL, (micrograms per deciliter).

The law requires that healthcare providers test all children, ages one and two, for lead poisoning, and that they monitor children who may be at risk for coming into contact with lead-based products such as peeling or deteriorating lead paint, which is sometimes found in older apartment buildings. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that 72% of one year old children, and 60% of two year old children, were tested for lead poisoning in 2005. In 2005, 79% of New York City children with elevated blood lead levels were found to be living in homes where lead-based paint was present. Sometimes the lead poisoning liability can fall on the landlord, if the lead poisoning occurred in a rented apartment. Lead poisoning liability may also extend to the manufactures, sellers and distributors, if a child gets lead poisoning from a product.

If parents decide to bring a lawsuit on behalf of an infant - defined in the State of New York as a child under the age of 18 – it’s important that they find lawyers well versed in lead poisoning. New York and New Jersey lead poisoning lawyers from Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, have represented lead poisoned victims and their families for more than two decades.