Robert A. Rubinstein, Ph.D., MsPH, is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and International Relations in the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. Sandra D. Lane, Ph.D., MPH, is Meredith Professor of Public Health in the Falk College of Syracuse University.
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon advocates spending $85 million for the Inner Harbor aquarium project because he estimates it will be an economic success for the county (“With $85M aquarium project stalled, McMahon compares it to amphitheater,” May 12, 2022).
Addressing the crisis of lead poisoning in Onondaga county would be a much more effective use for the $85 million. We have been working on lead poisoning here and abroad for decades. In 2008, our research demonstrated that the consequences of lead poisoning cost the county at least $500,000 annually in elevated Medicaid, teen pregnancy, criminal justice and special education costs. Lack of meaningful action on lead poisoning in Onondaga County during the 14 years since we published this estimate means that the county has spent at least $7 million responding to the consequences of lead poisoning.
To put the lead crisis in Syracuse into perspective, compare it to Flint, Michigan, where lead leaching into the water system from 2014-16 created a citywide public health emergency, and became a national scandal. In Flint in 2016, 3.2% of children had blood lead of 5mcg/dl or higher. In Syracuse, in 2021, 10.5% of Syracuse children had blood lead levels of 5mcg/dl or higher, the level that the CDC had designated as toxic. (In the past year, the CDC has reduced to this to 3.5mcg/dl.) Shockingly, Syracuse’s level of childhood lead poisoning is over three times higher than Flint!
Lead poisoning before age 3 robs children of what they would have accomplished if they had not been exposed to this neurological toxin. Lead poisoning is now considered “non-traumatic brain injury.” It reduces children’s ability to learn and is partially responsible for the abysmal third-grade reading scores of Syracuse City School District children. In 2018-2019, 78% of Syracuse public school third-graders failed to read at grade level on year-end standardized tests.
Lead poisoning before age 3 leads to high-risk behavior in adolescence. Our research demonstrated that teen females who were lead poisoned have higher rates of teen pregnancy. Males who were lead poisoned have higher rates of arrest and violent crime in adolescence. A Cincinnati study found that for every 5mcg/dl of lead, there is between a 27% to 40% increase in arrests in adolescence. Syracuse had 32 murders in 2021, many of them committed by adolescents.
The Syracuse Common Council passed an important local ordinance to protect children in rental property from lead poisoning in August 2020. The elements of that ordinance have yet to be fully enacted. Our analysis indicates that nearly half of Syracuse-area children are still not tested for lead, although New York state law mandates that children be tested at age 1 and 2. Our interviews with Syracuse families indicate that houses and apartments are not yet routinely and effectively inspected for lead hazards before being rented.
Despite its concentration in the city, lead poisoning is a countywide concern. The city serves as an economic hub for the county, is the location of essential services, like hospitals and other healthcare providers. Many of these institutions are exempt from city and county property tax, yet they make the county a more attractive place to live, to work and to visit.
The cost savings to be accrued from the addressing lead poisoning in the county is only a small portion of the economic boon that would result. The Environmental Policy Institute estimates that for every $1 spent on addressing lead paint hazards, the return on investment is between $17 and $221.
Investing $85 million in lead poisoning prevention and remediation in Onondaga County is the right thing to do. It is also wise and responsible fiscal policy.
Related:
More Syracuse kids got lead poisoning as Covid surged. The problem could be even worse
Syracuse testing for lead poisoning plunges; Some kids may be falling through cracks
Childhood lead poisoning is an issue of racial justice. Syracuse must address it. (Commentary)
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