VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Onondaga County continues to address ongoing lead exposure issues through community events
Kelsey Jones: Just one year ago, faulty water testing resulted in a city-wide program to prevent lead poisoning among Syracuse residents. One year later, the city is still working to decrease lead exposure, and not just from drinking water.
Jones: Director of Lead Operations for Onondaga County Jessica Vinciguerra said paint is the county’s new focus.
Jessica Vinciguerra: About 90% of our housing stock was built before 1979 which was when lead based paint was banned. Given the age of the housing stock, it’s still very much an issue most commonly in lead based paint.
Jones: The county is primarily looking to prevent lead exposure in children. They’ve partnered with Onondaga County School District to accomplish this goal. Superintendent of the Onondaga County School District Rob Price said the results have been astounding.
Price: From the lead testing effort within Onondaga Central School District we were able to get 60% of our student who had not been lead tested, tested today at school with the portable van at school.
Jones: And Onondaga County is not just partnering with schools. Today, we’re here in Nedrow at the volunteer fire station where they’re hosting the Leading on Lead event. Here, they’re educating families on how to protect their young children from lead exposure.
Jones: Here organizations like Lead Free Kids provided resources to local homeowners on how to minimize lead exposure to children. Onondaga County Legislator Richard McCarron emphasized the importance of educating the community on the risks of lead poisoning.
McCarron: As we know, the higher the level of lead in the bloodstream, it leads to the higher likelihood of some learning disabilities, some developmental delays. So if we can get out in front of that now and get children the resources they need through learning about the lead in their blood, everybody wins.
Jones: In honor of lead poisoning prevention, the county will continue to host events including a contractor resourcing event tomorrow morning at the CNY Philanthropy Center. McCarron also stated he hopes to see informational events continue throughout the year. For NCC News, I’m Kelsey Jones.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — Just over one year ago, water testing in Syracuse showed high levels of lead in some of the city’s drinking water. While it later came out that the testing resulting in the high levels was flawed, the initial reports sparked a city-wide effort to decrease lead exposure to citizens.
Initially, efforts were focused on reducing exposure from underground piping where lead was found to be contaminating water supplies.
Now the Director of Lead Operations for Onondaga County Jessica Vinciguerra says lead exposure from paint is the main concern.
“About 90% of our housing stock was built before 1979, which was when lead-based paint was banned,” Vinciguerra said. “Given the age of the housing stock, it’s still very much an issue most commonly in lead-based paint.”
Onondaga County is primarily looking to prevent lead exposure in children, who are at the highest risk of experiencing the long-term effects of lead poisoning according to Vinciguerra. To do so, the county is partnering with Onondaga County School District to provide resources and testing to residents.
Superintendent of the Onondaga County School District Rob Price, says the results of the partnership have been astounding.
“From the lead testing effort within Onondaga Central School District we were able to get 60% of our students who had not been lead tested, tested today at school with the portable van at school,” Price said.
Outside of providing testing at school, the county is working with partners such as Lead Free Kids to host informational community events educating community members on the risks of exposure and available prevention methods.
One such event, Leading on LEAD, was held at the Nedrow volunteer fire house at 6505 S. Salina St. this past Wednesday, Oct. 22. Hosted by County Executive Ryan McMahon and County Legislator Richard McCarron, the event offered homeowners a chance to explore their options to minimize lead exposure to children.
McCarron emphasized the importance of educating the community on the risks of lead exposure saying keeping people informed is half the battle.
“As we know the higher the level of lead in the bloodstream, it leads to the higher likelihood of some learning disabilities, some developmental delays,” McCarron said. “So if we can get out in front of that now and get children the resources they need through learning about the lead in their blood, everybody wins.”
In honor of Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the county participated in various other events from Oct. 19 to 25 including a contractor resourcing and networking event and the sixth annual “Trunk or Treat”.
In addition, the county is looking to continue information sessions throughout the year, according to McCarron.