MANCHESTER (AP) — Six Somali refugee families were forced to move out of their apartments after 20 children tested positive for lead poisoning.
State inspectors found lead contamination inside and outside the triple-decker. The six-unit building was home to 24 refugee children, nearly all under age 12.
Two children had especially high concentrations of lead in their blood and one 2-year-old girl was briefly hospitalized.
“I have never seen any (other) situation where every child in a building had an elevated blood (level), said Fred Rusczek, Manchester Public Health director. Inspectors said contamination was found in the yard where the children played, as well as around a window and on a three-season porch.
Manchester health officials plan to screen four other children who have been out of state.
Temporary housing has been found for the families.
Fatuma Mahamed, whose niece is now out of the hospital, said the children are doing well. “But sometimes they feel fever,” she said through an interpreter.
Mahamed, who has been living in New Hampshire for two years, refuses to go back to the apartment, saying she doesn’t feel safe there.
The building dates to 1910. A previous owner said she renovated it to cover old lead paint. The current owners say they have applied for a grant to help them pay to take care of the lead problems.
Even low levels of lead poisoning can harm a child’s brain and nervous system.
More than 50 refugee children in Manchester had suffered from lead poisoning during fiscal year 2005, according to a report on the city’s refugee population. Three of those children required hospitalization.
In 2000, a 2-year-old Sudanese refugee died after ingesting lead paint in a Manchester apartment. Health officials said she is the last known person to die of lead paint poisoning in the United States.
“This is a wake-up call for our community to try to figure out how to prevent this from happening with other families,” said Mary Sliney, executive director of The Way Home, a nonprofit group that helps families find affordable housing.
Source: AP, Aug 17, 2006
