Lingering lead: Biden plan to eliminate old pipes highlights longstanding contamination in communities of color – By Nada Hassanein (USA Today) / June 13 2021
Philadelphia family seeks help with lead exposure
Carmen Aponte-Vincent’s children suffer from lead poisoning in their Philly rowhome
When Carmen Aponte-Vincent became a new mom at 15 years old, she received a frightening phone call from the doctor.
The results from a follow up to her baby boy’s routine blood test for lead were in. Experts say no amount in the body is safe, but Chase, then 9 months old, had skyrocketing levels, 10 times higher than the federal benchmark.
“The doctor was like, ‘Check everything in your house.’ That’s when I realized he was chewing on the windowsills,” said Aponte-Vincent, 22.
The doctor called the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to the small two-bedroom rental home she shares with her Puerto Rican grandfather, who helped raise her. Workers cleared the crumbling, toxic lead-based paint and painted over the walls.
