How Do Students LEAP With Lead In Their Blood?

Editorial by Vic Hummert

The previous newsletter was a mini-assault on the Pentagon's grip on our national budget. On March 4th, an Associated Press (AP) report indicated last year "money managers in the Pentagon made $7 trillion in adjustments in financial ledgers...the Pentagon could not show receipts for $2.3 trillion, and half a trillion dollars of it was just corrections of mistakes made in earlier adjustments." They are sacking the treasury while nursing homes are dismissing staff members and not being paid by the federal government. Senator Paul Wellstone delivered a powerful speech in the Senate about such an imbalance. Why should we give nearly half of each tax dollar to such an incompetent operation?

LEAP means Louisiana Educational Assessment Program. The week of March 13th, there was tangible tension in the middle school where I tutor students who are trying to pass Social Studies and Language Arts. Both teachers and students walked about as if the final judgment was upon them. Since every student was being tested either in LEAP or the Iowa regimen, there was no possibility of tutoring anyone. All I could do was to return home and send energy to those I know will be having difficulty.

Nearly two years ago when I went to the Lafayette Parish School Board for training, a group of nearly fifty aspiring tutors were present. The facilitators were teaching us methods of helping students improve their memory. Having read numerous articles on the serious problem of lead in the blood, I brought a copy of Rachel's ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY to the 2nd training session. The presenters were quite amazed at the assertion that LEAD IN THE BLOOD IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR CHILDREN. Copies of the article were made and given to each one present. LEAD IN CHILDREN: OLD STORY, NEW DATA was issue #633, January 14th, 1999. If lead is impairing (our) memory, why try new methods of improving it?

The main effect of lead in the blood is:

*Diminishes a child's mental abilities

Other effects are:

*Loss of hearing

*Reduces hand-eye coordination

*Impairs the ability to pay attention - known as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). CNN reported 85% of the Redlin distributed globally is given to children in the United States.

*Creates a propensity towards violence. Most inner city children come >from houses built before the 1950's, meaning there is lead-based paint for them to ingest.

February 17th, 2000 Dr. Peter Montague, Ph.D., Editor of Rachel's issued the first of three articles on lead in the blood. "Dumbing Down The Children" is the title given to all three. Should you desire more information, please write to: Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly, POB 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403-7036. Phone 410-263-1584. E-mail: erf@rachel.org. This is an invaluable weekly publication.

While speaking to a maintenance man at a Lafayette hospital to encourage special treatment for used batteries because they contain lead, he asked if I had seen CBS the night before. I had not. He told me Johnson's Baby Powder was found to contain lead. I quickly went to the gift shop, bought a container of the powder and phoned the 800 # to check on the facts. The man who answered said, "We have received a lot of calls on that this morning." I asked if it was true or not. He said, "according to our CEO's, the powder is safe." He offered to send more information to me, but nothing was received. In the same week, I saw other news programs which affirmed the claim of lead in baby powder.

During ten years in Hong Kong, I knew that every breath drawn by millions who live in that former British colony were taking in lead which is burned in gasoline in the year 2000. If lead is burned, it travels about the world for everyone to inhale.

r. Peter Montague could be compared to Dr. Ignatz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor in the 1850's who tried to convince his co-workers they had to wash their hands after treating a sick person. Semmelweis was rejected and considered mad. Because of the obtuse spirit of intelligent doctors, Semmelweis was unable to finish his medical career. That unhappy conclusion does not apply to Dr. Montague. It was forty years before the medical community began to do what every waitress/waiter does after leaving the restroom and returning to work. Children cannot tolerate more lead in their blood. Or more teachers might find their profession intolerable.

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