European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 24, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday november ?4. 1985 by Marjorie Anders associated press the silent epidemic that afflicts More children than does measles each year i \ he wears a Hospital gown decorate with trains. An intravenous Needle i embedded in his Arm. Ali Gonzalez at age7, has spent almost As much time in Hospital Ward As he has a schoolroom. Ali was put in the Hospital by Lead poisoning a Man made disease which each year afflicts More children than measles mumps and Chicken pox combined according to the National centers Tor disease control in Atlanta. The latest figures from the National centers for disease control show 675.000 preschoolers Sutler some degree of Lead poisoning which retards mental development and interferes with Normal metabolism. That s 4 percent of All american children Between the Ages of six months and 5 years according to the National health and nutritional examination Survey which was conducted from 1976 to 1980. That was the first time Lead poisoning was studied on a National scale. Only 2 percent of White children showed symptoms of Lead poisoning while 12 percent of the Black children were poisoned. Among All inner City kids the average was 11. 6 percent. It is sometime called the silent epidemic because most children who Are poisoned do not show any symptoms beyond general malaise irritability stomachaches or Lack of appetite. A poisoned child does t look sick and parents May not know anything is wrong. Ali a Foster child of puerto rican descent does t really understand Lead poisoning except that it hurts a Little. It makes you  the most common cause of the disease is ingestion of Lead based paint. The consumer product safety commission banned Lead As an ingredient in Interior paint in 1977, yet it endures in an estimated 30 million Urban tenements farmhouses and barns. Under new coals of Latex paint leaded paint remains a threat in it is allowed to Flake off the Walls or windowsills. It is the tendency of Young children to put things in their Mouths that puts them in jeopardy. The extent of damage depends on the child s age and size and the concentration of Lead in the body. If a child eats a piece of leaded paint the size of a Pinhead every Day Lor three months he could be  says Maxine Golub. Director of the Lead poisoning prevention project at Montefiore medical Center in the Bronx. It s a myth that poor children who Are not supervised and who have nothing else to do and who have no toys and maybe Are hungry Peel the paint of the Walls and eat it. The reality is thai peeling paint comes off the Walls and the ceiling and window Sills and gets ground into dust. Children play on the floor put their hands in their Mouths put toys in their Mouths eat cookies without washing their hands All the while ingesting Lead dust if the paint were not peeling it would not be problem. Holl a a haired Sec no Smat album Einstein colle9e of medic Neshich a affiliated with Montefiore Hospital inc jdin9 new Yolk have Las requiring so by or a Ali Goni Olti neut rain from Tad poisoning at a new York Hospital. A a series of intramuscular injections or