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Too Little, Too Late

Bruce P. Lanphear, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2005;293:2274-2276.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

One hundred years ago, Gibson described an epidemic of childhood lead poisoning from the ingestion of lead-based paint.¹ He showed that paint was the primary source of lead intake for these children by measuring lead on wipe samples collected from porch railings and houses that had recently been painted. Gibson speculated that educational efforts would prevent lead poisoning because many children with lead poisoning were reported to bite their nails or suck their fingers.¹ Four years later, after their educational efforts failed to prevent lead poisoning, Gibson’s colleague, Turner, concluded, "Prevention is easy. Paint containing lead should never be employed . . . where children, especially young children, are accustomed to play."²

Despite these and other warnings, the United States continued to allow the use of lead-based paint until 1978.³ In contrast, many European countries banned the use of lead-based paint as early as 1909.⁴ The delay in banning . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Cincinnati Children’s Environmental Health Center, and Departments of Pediatrics and Environmental Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

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