Paint Poisoning

In a city where more than 20,000 children have been exposed to brain-damaging doses of lead paint in the past two decades, officials acknowledged last week that no effort has been made to track them - and that many have likely passed into the prison system unnoticed. Unaware of the mental deficits of the defendants who appear before them, judges routinely shuttle lead-poisoning victims into the criminal justice system without educational or medical treatments that might help them overcome their affliction.

A bill that would have made it easier to collect damages from paint manufacturers for the harm caused by lead poisoning was defeated last night in a House of Delegates committee in Annapolis. The measure, which had drawn strong opposition from business groups as well as from manufacturers, was turned down without debate by a unanimous vote of the House Judiciary Committee. The defeat was a setback for the law firm of Peter G. Angelos, which hopes to force the lead paint industry to pay damages on a scale similar to the billions of dollars in the national tobacco settlement.

More than 7,000 Maryland children suffer some degree of lead paint poisoning every year -- and the damage is irreversible. Most of the victims are poor, inner city kids who are defenseless against an invader which burrows into bone and brain to work its destructive force for a lifetime. Dedicated legislators like Del. Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg and a cadre of others have worked for at least a decade to construct a regulatory, legal and financial shield for at-risk children. Political leaders and bureaucrats have failed to use it, however.

When a routine blood test in 1995 showed that 2-year-old Reggie Smith was suffering from severe lead poisoning, his mother, Renee Kennedy, was astonished. The family's rented East Baltimore rowhouse had peeling paint and holes in the drywall. But Reggie seemed to be an active, healthy toddler."He had no symptoms," said Kennedy, 26, a single mother of three who works as a private-duty nurse. "But they said another week in that house and it could have been life-threatening."One month in intensive care and another five months in three hospitals saved Reggie from mortal danger.

A group that fights lead poisoning said yesterday that it will work with Baltimore police to train children, parents and police officers how to detect and prevent the childhood hazard."

A group that fights lead poisoning said yesterday it would work with Baltimore police to train children, parents and police officers how to detect and prevent the childhood hazard."

Maryland's pioneering effort to prevent children from being poisoned by lead paint has been stalled nearly a year by a tug of war between health advocates calling for tougher regulations and landlords resisting measures they fear could force them out of business.After months of searching for a middle ground to implement a state law passed last year, environmental officials have devised new regulations for owners in the cleanup of properties deemed hazardous. But debate remains heated over how to balance children's health with the need to provide affordable, lead-safe housing.

Howard County leads the state in overall care of children, but it's not perfect, says a recent report comparing the well-being of children across Maryland."

Q: I own several rental properties in the Baltimore area. I heard something recently about a new state registration law regarding houses that may contain lead paint. How will the law affect landlords?James Graham, BaltimoreA: The new law (HB760) was passed by the General Assembly last spring and took effect on Oct. 1. The law establishes a lead paint poisoning prevention program that will be managed by the Maryland Department of the Environment.The law requires owners of older rental properties to take certain actions to attain limited liability protection and more affordable insurance.

Maryland lawmakers, cautious throughout this election-year session, played it safe to the end last night, passing a bill to get tougher on violent criminals but killing or watering down virtually every other important measure that might offend one interest group or another.Showing no mercy for Gov. William Donald Schaefer in his final legislative session, the lawmakers killed three of his major proposals: bills to regulate gambling, to raise the tax on cigarettes and to speed up the death penalty appeals process.