The problem of Republican government inaction when confronted with high levels of lead in items like toys and other household items takes on an increased significance with a study recently completed by Cornell University researchers. The results of the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, indicate that levels of lead in the blood far below current federal government guidelines are associated with reduced scores for children who take standardized tests of cognitive ability.
The political implication of the study is that, for the sake of America’s children, the federal government is going to have to make its regulation of lead in household products far more rigorous. The political problem is that the Republican government has been unwilling even to do what’s necessary to enforce current standards related to exposure to lead. The right wing ideological reaction to the problem with lead contamination of the objects that our children come into contact with has been to reduce regulation, and avoid systems that could provide American families with adequate information about what items are likely to expose children to dangerous levels of lead.
America’s children can’t vote for themselves. They’re counting on America’s adults to do the right thing – and vote for a strong change in course in the federal government, by placing a true progressive in the White House. (Source: Environmental News Network, December 2, 2007)
