Just an example of how nutty the lead scare stuff can get.
The local newspaper has been filled with lead horror stories -- some kid here has pretty severe learning disabilities and ADD and he had a slightly elevated lead level, so of course the latter must have caused the former.
So the local public health officials have taken up the sword against lead and today I received a letter they sent out to every resident in the city (about 20,000 households) saying,
"1. Do you live in or are you planning to purchase a home built before 1978?
2. Do you have children between the ages of 6 months and six years of age?
3. Are you pregnant?
If you answered yes to any of these questons, you, your unborn child and young children may be at risk for lead poisoning. Please contact your physician to have a blood test to determine if your child has an elevated blood level."
The local paper did include a pediatrician calling the recommendations alarmist, but it was in like the 38th paragraph of a very long story. What is especially ironic about this whole affair is that the city I live in, Kalamazoo, has the highest rate of infant mortality in the state and one of the highest levels of infant mortality in the nation but the city's going all out to prevent low level exposure to lead. Go figure (then again, the local enviros are campaigning against a proposed golf course claiming the pesticides and fertilizers used on golf courses will cause cancer rates to increase!)
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