Cover Story piece on lead, which was identified in a recent Maine health surve

Cover Story piece on lead, which was identified in a recent Maine health survey as a preventable environmental health problem. Nearly all cases of childhood lead poisoning are attributable to the ingesting of chips and dust from pre-1978 paint in older homes. The use of lead in household paints was banned in 1979. But more than half of Maine\u27s housing stock was built pre-1960; and public spaces like schools, churches and community halls are also likely to contain the hazardous material. Maine has had a nominal lead poison program in place for 10 years, but critics say the state isn\u27t doing enough to protect its citizens. MaryAnn Amrich, head of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention program at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, says one goal of her program is to increase screening rates by raising family and physician awareness. With contact information for Maine organizations and municipal authorities focusing on the problems caused by lead paint in Maine homes