August 8, 2007

MEDIA RELEASE

CONTACT:

Shawn Uhlman, PDC 503-823-7994

PDC Offers Free Lead Screening For Toys And Household Products

The Portland Regional Lead Hazard Control Program (PRLHCP) will offer free lead screening of toys, jewelry, pottery and other small items Friday, August 10 from 1-3 p.m. In addition, the Josiah Hill III Clinic will provide free blood lead tests with results available immediately. The free screenings will be held at the Community Energy Project’s office located at 422 NE Alberta Street. This event is open to the public and people are encouraged to bring in items to be screened and to have their children tested.

The recent Consumer Product and Safety Commission’s recall of RC2’s popular Thomas the Tank Engine toys and the new Mattel recall of almost one million toys is drawing renewed attention to the health risks posed by lead-based paint, but toys alone are not the only risk. Lead is sometimes used as a base metal in jewelry, in the glaze of pottery, as a stabilizer in vinyl, and many other every day items. 

“We find lead in toys, water, household items, soil, and most of all in our homes,” stated Sarah Gourde, the Lead Grant Program Coordinator for the Portland Development Commission. “The primary cause of lead poisoning in children is dust from lead-based paint and lead contaminated soil. Our goal in performing these tests is to make people aware of the risks of lead exposure and to let them know PDC has a grant program in place to assist low-income homeowners with lead remediation.”

For more information on grants or lead screening, please call Sarah Gourde at
503-823-3235. Grant applications are available online at www.pdc.us/leadhazard.  PRLHCP is a program administered by the Portland Development Commission with funding from the City of Portland and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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