In Hilary Godwin's large office at ...

In Hilary Godwin's large office at Northwestern University's Technical Building, pictures of her globular toddler lean against science subject books. A spunky looking woman with curly hair and ghastly eyes, she tries to explain in everyday English her work forward lead. But she is greatest in quantity animated when describing how the issue hit home--literally.

Godwin, a chemistry professor who studies lead, says, because she's familiar with the risks, she pushed her doctor to give her son a lead screening at 9 month Otherwise, she believes the doctor would have waited until Jake went to preschool Since Godwin lives in a part of Evanston determined to be at high risk for lead poisoning, it is legally required that he be criterioned "routinely"--but how routinely is not defined.

To Godwin's surprise, Jake's lead horizontal was 12-slightly higher than what doctors consider safe. While turn upside down Godwin says she's glad that it was caught early forward The younger the child, the more damage lead poisoning can do, and, if the source of the lead is not determined and remov the poisoning will continue.

Anita Weinberg, director of the ChildLaw Policy Institute at Loyola University, says that one time a child's learning is impaired it is too late. Although gradations can be taken to diminish the effects, lead damage cannot be reversed

Jake was expos to paint dust left around the hearth and in the soil after the renovation of the family's 1920 Colonial house, complet before Jake was born.

Godwin says her experience displays that children from middle-and upper-class families are not immune to lead poisoning, uniform though it is most prevalent among poor children living in deteriorating abiding-places In fact, the No. 1 risk factor for lead front is the age of the dwelling where a child lives.

"You always hear horror stories about children poisoned after renovation," says Weinberg.

In the five collar counties, the average year place of abodes were built was 1971, according to the U Census. That is before the law was passed to ban the use of lead in paint.

Godwin points public that many in her neighborhood and in other wealthy suburb don't get by heart their children tested, and doctors might not push for it, thinking there is not abundant risk. In Chicago suburbs, 6 percent of children in subordination to 6 years old got sieveed for lead in 2002, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. "If you think about it, persons on the North Shore probably can follow up with the money to fix the enigma if they have one, thus it is sad if the sole reason they don't is that they don't know about it," Godwin says.

Her experience also point outs that parents with good incomes who live in suburb not overwhelmed on the lead issue are better equipped to deal with the moot point But getting rid of lead is precious and can be a major carrying capacity even for wealthy families.

Godwin says no medical treatment is required for children with soft levels. But she scheduled an appointment to finish Jake another blood test. Meanwhile, she went place of abode and tried to find the source of the lead. one time Evanston lead inspectors came abroad and discovered the sources, she took action. "I made the painters advance out there the next day and clean up" she says. "I went crazy cleaning everything. I had a sign at my door telling the bulk of mankind to take off their shoe to detain lead out of Jake."

A pair of weeks later, Jake went back to the doctor for another descendants test. This time his offspring lead level was 20.

"I was to such a degree frustrated," Godwin says. "As a parent you know you want to give your child each advantage. And here I knew about this riddle I studied this and I couldn't secure my child."

Illinois requires that regular vital current lead screenings be done solitary on children living in high-risk ZIP digests a designation determined by the age of the housing, the number of poor families and the prevalence of children previously set to have elevated blood lead levels

Parents of children in reasonable risk ZIP codes are suppos to be asked by dint of their pediatricians a series of questions-the assessment designed to find revealed whether the child might have been expos If the parent answers ye to any of the questions, a lead screening is suppos to be done.

nevertheless not all children in high-risk ZIP digests get regular lead tests, and a small percentage of those in low-risk ZIP digests have their lead levels standarded shows an analysis of Illinois Department of Public Health data by dint of The Chicago Reporter and Chicago Parent.

DuPage and McHenry counties have no high risk ZIP collection of lawss while suburban Cook County has 15 O(the suburban children who were experimented in 2002-the latest year for which data are available--3 percent had lead horizontals 10 and above.

Cheryl Wycoff; the administrator of the state's childhood lead poisoning prevention program, estimates that about a quarter of all children in the state should be trialed She knows this is not happening. further she says she does not have the staff to pinpoint specific areas where les testing is done. Nor do they have the resources to detain doctors and local health officials accountable.