College takes long-term action against lead paint

Another fence was added to the Child Development Center's playground this summer, as a temporary solution to keep children away from lead-based paint chips discovered falling from Elliot Hall last spring.

"There was a time crunch because the children were coming back," said CDC director Ellen Edge. "The safest route was to put off [removing the paint] and put up the fences."

According to Edge, a parent noticed peeling paint on the exterior of the Keene State College building, and "just wondered" if it contained lead.

During the summer, Covino Environmental Associates Inc. collected paint chips near the building, which were then found to have an unacceptable level of lead.

Paint chip samples dated July 13 displayed readings of 8.53, 13.82 and 16.14 percent lead by weight.

The Environmental Protection Agency defines a dangerous level of lead concentration as anything greater than 1 percent by weight, said Sylvie Rice, environmental health and safety coordinator.

In addition to the fence, which is four feet high and approximately 10 feet away from Elliot Hall, CDC staff members also received training to identify and dispose of lead-based paint chips.

The college plans to continue the lead abatement program into next summer, with a long-term solution to contain the paint chips originating from the trim and window frames of the building.

The project will include either having a permanent cover put over the yellow trim, or more likely the paint will be chemically stripped and removed, said Rice. In addition, the windows and wooden frames will be replaced on that side of the building, she said.

According to Laura Ford, manager of the New Hampshire Childhood Lead Program, there is "no clear cut lead abatement cost." It depends on the property, how it's maintained and how old it is, she said.

Nora Traviss, an instructor in the safety studies program, said the Environmental Protection Agency did not begin phasing out lead-based paint until the early 1980s.

While lead paint is not hazardous unless exposed, said Traviss, lessors of pre-1978 housing are required to notify occupants with children under six years old if their building contains lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards.

Edge said she had not heard of any child in the CDC program having a high reading of lead, but the center is asking families to have their children screened.

"We're asking our families to definitely get their kids tested just to play it safe," she said.

The CDC serves about 45 children ranging from four months to five years of age, said Edge.

She said children ranging in ages from one to two were at the greatest risk for lead poisoning because they put things in their mouths.

"Lead tastes sweet and that is why it's such a danger to young children," she said.

Jennifer Cohen, who has a 16-month old daughter in the program, said she plans to have her daughter tested for lead at her next pediatric visit in.

Russell Brandwein's three children have gone through the CDC program, and he does not plan to have his four year-old son tested.

"I think if Luke was younger, than we'd have a concern," he said, adding that his son was "never one to be an eater."

John Martin, manager of the state bureau of licensing and certification, said a situation where a child is found to have an elevated blood lead level is to be reported to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

State legislation passed in July lowered the blood lead level to prompt an investigation of a property for lead hazards from 20 to 10 micrograms per deciliter.

If a child with an elevated blood lead level attended a child care program at least 10 hours a week, the program facility could be inspected as well, said Martin.

However, lead exposure in child care programs "has not been a big issue," he said. "It comes up every once in a while."

Upon the discovery of the lead-based paint chips, Edge sent out a letter to parents and held an informational meeting on Aug. 8, which three families attended.

"I thought they were very thorough. [They] let us know right away," said Michelle Carrio, a teacher at the CDC, who has a 2-year-old and 3-year-old in the program.

Prior to the renovation of the CDC in 2005 and 2006, Covino checked the interior of the center with a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) meter and detected lead in the original layer of paint, which was not exposed, said Traviss.

She said lead levels detected by an XRF meter cannot be compared to lab samples because the former gives a surface area reading, while the later measures by weight.

The discovery of the lead-based paint made the project more expensive, but "there is no lead paint left within the CDC," she said

Elliot Hall is not the only KSC building that has an existing level of lead-based paint.

In 2003, on-campus and residence director apartments in buildings constructed before 1976, were tested for lead-based paint, according to Traviss, who initiated the program.

The only building that did not pass was the Bushnell apartments, where levels of lead ranging from 2.3 to 5.1 milligrams per square centimeter were found in paint on the lintel, a metal strip above the exterior door frame.

As a result of the finding, students living in the apartments had to sign a form indicating they had been notified about the presence of lead-based paint in their living spaces.

Traviss, who was hired to the position in 2002 after it had been vacant for some time, said the college was not obligated to inform the students living in Bushnell about the presence of the paint because there are no children residing the building.

"I think people have the right to know. It's an ethical thing," she said, about deciding to notify the students.

"I was surprised to receive [the notice], but I'm glad they are talking about it," said sophomore Ashley Johnson.