Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel, is calling on the United States Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen protections against child lead poisoning.
Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 19 state attorneys general calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA to better protect children from lead poisoning. The group is particularly focused on children living in low-income communities and communities of color, Nessel saying in a press release:
"We have already seen what lead can do when it gets into the water supply…” later adding “-- not just through the water they drink, but also the very food that they eat, the paint and soil in their homes and daycares, and gasoline in cars driven nearby. Since lead poisoning disproportionately affects low-income children, this is an environmental justice issue that requires expeditious action on the EPA's part."
Lead is a highly toxic metal that can cause serious and irreversible adverse health effects. A 2021 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics found that elevated blood lead levels in children were closely related to poverty, race, and living in older housing.
The coalition has credited the EPA on it’s draft strategy for increased protections, but has pushed a list of its own measures to strengthen procedures by aggressively targeting hazards posed by lead in paint, drinking water, soil, food and more.