Episode 8-Dr Lisa, Deanna and Aidan Branch

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Pulse Check,Wisconsin.

Chris (00:30):
Good morning.
Good evening.
Good afternoon.
Whatever it is for you all.
Thank you for joining us foreighth episode of Pulse Check
Wisconsin.
This is Chris Ford.
I'm an emergency medicine doctorin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And again, thanks so much.
I am very happy to start thiseighth episode Again, for those
of you who are new to thepodcast we normally will start

(00:52):
off the podcast with a case.
But this week I felt it was alittle bit more powerful to
start with a first person.
Testimony of.
The issue that we're going to bediscussing today that affects
people, not only in the city ofMilwaukee, but in the state of
Wisconsin, other neighborhoods,other communities,
municipaleadies, et cetera.

(01:14):
And so.
We want to get started.
Before we get started.
Again, super excited to startthis episode.
We have two very three, actuallythree very special guests here
with us today.
One being Deanna Branch, who isa staunch advocate for
correcting the lead issue herethat we have in the state of
Wisconsin.

(01:34):
And we'll be providing thetestimony to kick us off.
So this testimony.
It's not just any testimony.
This took place at the WhiteHouse Lead pipe summit.
And on January 27th, 2023.
Deanna was not only invited tospeak to the lead issue here in

(01:54):
Milwaukee.
But she was also given the honorof presenting the
vice-president.
Vice president Harris.
So, without further ado, let'sgo ahead and get started with
our testimony.
​Hi.
Good afternoon.

(02:16):
My name is Deanna Branch.
I am a mother.
The mother of two wonderfulchildren.
Aidan.
and Jaden Branch, and also acommunity organizer with the
COLEition on Lead Emergency,COLE for short.

(02:37):
It is an honor to be here todayto talk about our country's
commitment to protectingchildren from the irreversible
and damaging effects of leadpoisoning by removing lead
service lines.
I must thank President Biden andthe members of Congress for

(03:00):
listening.
COLE and frontline communitygroups across the country have
been advocating for the removalof lead pipes and access to
clean drinking water for allcommunities who are devastated
by elevated blood lead levels.

(03:22):
We found out when my son Aidanwas two years old and had to be
hospitalized not once, but twicedue to the severity of elevated
blood lead levels.
When I found out what happenedto my son, I had no idea of the

(03:42):
severity of lead exposure.
After learning how I needed tobe there for my son, how I need
to be there for my community.
I began to advocate and fightfor children everywhere who
don't deserve to be exposed, tolay in their water and lay in
their homes.

(04:03):
I am happy to share now the 80is now nine years old.
And standing beside me today,healthy and well, with a gift of
his first book, Aidan theLatifree Superhero, signed and

(04:27):
ready to be given as an honorarygift to Minister Regan and
President Harris, VicePresident, sorry, Vice President
Harris.
For all of their hard work.
Thank you to Mr.
Regan.
Vice President Harris and theBiden administration for taking

(04:47):
the first step with thebipartisan infrastructure plan
to help cities and states removeall of their lead laterals.
Now it is up to communities tohold our elected officials
accountable to implementing theinfrastructure bill.
It is up to utileadies to sharewhat they need to ramp up their

(05:08):
last service line programs.
Most importantly, it is up toour government agencies and
mayors and governors to act witha sense of urgency to prioritize
removing every single leadservice line.
In the words of my son Aidan,you are all lead free
superheroes.

(05:29):
And together we will defeat theevil lead monster in the water,
paint, and soil.
Thank you.
My sons and I are so honored.
and grateful for this invitationto witness history in the
making.
Without further ado, I wouldlike to introduce you to
Administrator Regan and VicePresident Harris.

(05:55):
Thank you.
Welcome.
Welcome.

(06:19):
Deanna, you are just, you are asuperstar, the superheroes and a
superstar.
Thank you so very much.
And to the boys.
Thank you guys.
Aidan, we are so motivated byyour mom and the two of you.
As young leaders on this issue.
Your voice has been so important

(06:41):
so very powerful testimony indeed.
You know, Deanna has not onlyhad the first person perspective
of being a parent.
Children who have been affectedby lead poisoning, but she took
the next step to get involved tocorrect the issue and folks like
that in the community areinvaluable because.

(07:03):
When they're at the table, theycan bring that experience they
can bring.
Remedies that they see based inthat experience of living day to
day.
Knowing the things that arebarriers to.
lead prevention remedies that.
are proposed.
And so.
Very honored to have her heretoday.

(07:25):
Very honored to have our leadfree superhero, Aidan.
On as well to share some of hispearls of wisdom, as well as
some of his testimony.
In his lead journey and some ofhis pointers and tips for some
kids that may be exposed to leador live in areas that have a
high lead prevalence.

(07:46):
In addition, we will have on avery, very special guest.
Dr.
Lisa Chowdhury.
She is a pediatrician and anexpert both state side, as well
as nationally on leadprevention.
She is.
An amazing pediatrician.
She is an amazing person.
One of the most brilliant.
Providers that I've had theopportunity to work with and

(08:09):
know.
Not only am I proud to have heras a fellow community advocate
in some of this work to remedysome of these social
determinants of health.
But she also is my partner andmy wife and I am very fortunate
to have her as a partner, aswell as to have her.
As the mother of our two amazingboys.

(08:32):
So I'm very excited to have heron here.
And with that being said, let'sgo ahead and get started with
our interview with Dr.
Chowdhury, with Aidan in theLead Free Superhero, as well as
Deanna Branch

Deanna (08:50):
aidan was hospitalized twice due to the severity of his
lead poisoning.
He developed and and otherbehavioral, emotional problems.
And that's really what lead meto become an advocate.
I felt like I didn't have anyresources or any tools or anyone
in the community to like reallyhelp me or assist me what was

(09:13):
going on.
The health department gotinvolved the second time he was
hospitalized.
And so did CPS.
And I thought they were comingto, you know, the hospital to
help me, to advocate for me Butthat wasn't the case on the last
day of his discharge day.
CPS came in pretty much said wecan't discharge us from hospital

(09:34):
because you can't provide a safeplace for him to live.
And by that time, the oldlandlord was just done with the
property and just pretty muchgave the, the contract to a
different rental agency.
And then they talked to us andthey said, well if you sign this
new lease, then we'll do therenovations and get all the lead

(09:54):
out.
And because the health reportthat was done, it was just lead
was just everywhere.
The soil, paints pipes,everything.
Originally we thought it wasjust lead paint was the main
cause, which it was, but leadwas everywhere.
And at that point I didn't trustthe housing or the new landlord.

(10:14):
Cause it was like threedifferent landlords took over
their property during the timewe were living there.
So I was just over it.
I just ended up breaking thelease and just living with
family living in shelters whowere homeless.
I lost my job cause I was in andout of the hospital with Aidan
so much.
And they were just tired of myexcuses.
And then my health took a turnfor the worse and through all

(10:36):
that, that still really didn'tstop me from advocating.
And speaking up for myself andletting my community know what's
going on.
And it was really Aidan, he hewas getting, you know, having
school troubles, getting bulliedin school about his behavior,
and he felt safe and comfortableat church.
And that's really the sanctuarythat I took refuge in.
And it was me advocating,speaking about what me and Aidan

(10:57):
were going through at church.
And that's when I found out, youknow, I'm not the only parent or
child in the community goingthrough this.
And it's not a me problem, it'snot a family problem, it's a
community problem.
And nothing was done in thecommunity to make parents and
children feel safe.
So, we had to advocate forourselves and each other.

(11:19):
And that's really what's wrongabout the COLEition on
emergency.
We start off as a group ofparents, advocating for their
community, their family, theirrights.
And it turned into the hugecoalition that it is today.
And it lead me to becoming aspokesperson advocate for myself
and my community.

(11:40):
So now that when parents aregoing through what me and Aidan
went through, there's someonelike me there that has their
back to help them and tell themwhat they can do to absorb the
lead, to reduce the lead levelsin children, to fight for
parents rights and to make thecommunity stand up and help us
and do something for thecommunity.

(12:00):
Better housing is what we'restriving for.
More clinics like next door inthe community that actually
helps prevent children frombeing exposed to lead.
Removing the lead pipes, thatwas a huge one.
When we got invited to the WhiteHouse, I'm, I'm still.
But when Kamala came toMilwaukee what, two years ago,

(12:23):
she actually invited me andAidan to just come talk to her
and she wants to hear our storypersonally, but Aidan wasn't
vaccinated.
So I took his pictures and hisdrawings that he created.
And she's the one who said, Ohmy God, this would make a great
book.
And of course I'll tell mypastor what she said and my
pastor agreed.
And they sponsored the bookalong with Feeding America, the

(12:43):
Homeless Hunger Task Force ofFeeding America.
They sponsored the book and gotit published.
After the book was published, Isaid, okay, now what?
Because the vice president, it'sbeen a year, she hasn't callead
me.
And the same time next year,that's when I got the call
saying, Oh, this is the vicepresident.
Can you come to this annual leadsummit?
At the White House?

(13:03):
In three days?
And I said okay, you may bringthe book.
Is it the books?
Well, let's bring Aidan too.
And fortunately he wasvaccinated by then.
So we could bring Aidan andJayden.
We all came to the white house.
We delivered the first copy ofthe book to the vice president
and she presented to the libraryof Congress for me, because at

(13:23):
that time I was off dialysis andpregnant with Ray Lynn.
So it was a crazy, busy time.
And the minute we got back home,not even a week later, we were
invited back to meet thepresident at the State of the
Union address.
And that's when he shook my handand that's when the bypass
infrastructure thing came intoplace where they were going to

(13:44):
invest a lot of money intostates to remove all the land
laterals out of the city ofMilwaukee.
And of course, I had broughtJane Aidan back for that.
They couldn't come to the statecapitol with me, but they got to
sit in the White House theater.
And watch me at the statecapitol, it was just amazing.
And that just was my moment tosee like, Oh my God, it's after

(14:09):
all these years of advocating isreally happening.
Something's really being doneabout this lead problem.
And there's a lot more thatneeds to be done.
But I think we're going in theright direction.
I would definitely say that.
And it's just exciting that Iget to work right alongside my
sons and let him tell his story.

(14:31):
So when I'm getting a lot ofcalls and interviews, I need to
bring my son with me and to tellhis story in his own words,
especially when I'm gettinginvited to an event where
there's a lot of children.
Who want to be writers, who justwant to share their story and
just advocate for themselves.
It's nice to hear from anotherchild.
I make sure I bring my kidseverywhere with me so that they

(14:53):
can connect with the other kidswhile I'm connected with the
parents.
About what the parents should bedoing to prevent lead.
And Aidan can share his storyand encourage the kids to read,
write, tell their story, writeit down.
Just advocating for positivechange in the community has just
been, it's just been a blessing.
That's the short version.

Chris (15:13):
No, fantastic.
I mean, God bless you foreverything that you've been
through and everything thatyou've been able to do to kind
of turn things around and try tomake a difference in the
community.
And I agree with you, you know,putting a lot of emphasis on the
disparities here in Milwaukeeand having lived it.
You and Aidan both, you know,this is something that, it

(15:34):
drives it home for folks.
And it's something thatemphasizes how much work we
still need to do in thecommunity as well.
So thank you so much for sharingthat.
That's amazing.

Aiden (15:46):
Yeah, anything anything.

Chris (15:48):
Yeah.
Aidan, do you wanna tell, I, Ihear you had a big speech
yesterday, man.
You wanna tell us some of thestuff he talked about in there?

Aiden (15:55):
Okay.

Chris (15:57):
no pressure, bro.

Aiden (16:00):
do you if I get my phone so I can,

Deanna (16:04):
I think he, because he wrote it down, he don't remember
what he said.
Oh, that's fine.

Chris (16:07):
No, take your time,

Deanna (16:08):
man.

Dr Lisa (16:08):
That's,

Deanna (16:08):
I think it's probably, can you just remember a few
things that you said about mypolice in the clinic?
The, the topic of the marketsummit was about health equity
and why I'm fighting for yourhealth care and health care in
the community is so important.
And that's why they want to ageto speak because he just lost

(16:29):
his favorite clinic.
He was saying how the clinic isright next to Park tree schools
and my mom used to work there.
It's by the house where I waslead poison, you knowlead
poisoned in this house you know,it still makes me happy to be
around the neighborhood becauseit makes me think about my
family.
You know, cause he really didlove that house.
He we had a dog and the schoolwas right there in the park or

(16:53):
the store.
So when we had to move and hadto downsize into an apartment, a
whole house to apartment.
So it was really rough for him.
And we had to get the dog to mymother because we don't allow
pets here.
So it was really hard.
It has no park over here either.
So it was really hard for him.
So he loves going to that clinicbecause it reminds him of his

(17:16):
old neighborhood and he gets togo see his old school, old
school friends, go to the park,go to the store.
So that's what he was justsaying.
Like, that's where all the bestthings are.
And when he went to this newclinic, he said he was happy to
see Dr.
Lisa, but it was so far and youknow, and I was exhausted.
And it took a long time for theover to get there.
So he was just like, you know, Idon't want to go back there

(17:36):
again.
So that's pretty much what hewas saying.
And everyone was just emotionalabout what he was saying,
because it really relates to howhard it is to get good qualeady
health care in my community.
But the most important part thathe stressed was that you love to
be there.
The doctors wanted to be there.

(17:57):
And you love the community.
You love the children in thecommunity.
That's really the most importantpart.
Of the speech that he was sayingis that the doctors love
community loves them.
So bring them back because theylove us.
So why, why are they leaving thecommunity?
That was really the best part ofyour speech.

Dr Lisa (18:17):
Yeah, Aidan, you're such a star.
You're right.

Chris (18:23):
Were you, were you nervous when you, when you gave
your speech, man?
Sometimes I get nervous.

Aiden (18:27):
At church, at church, my mom wasn't there because she was
sick, but at the gala she wasthere.
She listened to my speech.

Deanna (18:36):
Yeah, this wasn't the first time he said this speech.
The first time was at the healthsummit a month ago at the
church.
And he was nervous because I gota foot injury, and I couldn't
go.
So I had his big brother takehim to the church.
And he was nervous at first, butthe pastor stood with him while
he said the speech.
And when everyone gave him astanding ovation, he said, Okay,

(18:57):
I'm not nervous anymore.
Everyone loved it.
It was okay.
So he was

Aiden (19:01):
ready this time.

Deanna (19:03):
Cause I was there, you know, his grandmother was there,
all his family was there.
So he was excited to say at thistime because he was just All the
love and support he gets when hespeaks.
That's really what makes themwant to speak more He definitely
got a lot of support again.
So public speaking he's gettingbetter at it so much better.

Chris (19:22):
Yeah He's an all star in my book And what would you say
to kids that have lead exposure?
What is your message to thosekids?

Aiden (19:34):
The message to those kids were make sure you eat healthy
green leafy vegetables, washyour hands daily and frequently
to avoid the lead monster, don'teat lead paint or don't eat any
of from the lead pipes, don'teat any, don't eat out from the

(19:55):
walls and make sure you always,always wash your hands after and
before you eat.

Deanna (20:05):
Filter water filter water.

Chris (20:08):
Wow.
That's fantastic guys.
Well, good job, man.
Thanks for thanks for sharingthat with us.
Thanks for sharing it with allthe kids in the community.
So I guess the first question ismore so for Dr.
Lisa.
Can you describe the prevalenceof lead poisoning among children
in Milwaukee?
And what factors contribute tothe occurrence of lead

(20:29):
poisoning?

Dr Lisa (20:30):
Yeah.
So the prevalence of Milwaukeeoverall, it's very sad.
It's way too much lead in thiscity and nothing in my training
before I got to this clinic hadprepared me for the amount of
lead that I have seen.
And how high the lead levelswere the overall trends of lead
in Milwaukee.

(20:51):
We do reflect the nationaltrends, which is good news
overall, over the last couple ofdecades since they took the lead
out of gasoline and the lead outof paint in the late 70s, lead
levels are coming down.
But the progress is not equalacross all states and within
those states, not equal acrossall cities.

(21:11):
So Milwaukee is a perfectexample of that some of the most
recent data in 2021 of the stateof Wisconsin for kids under six
2.
8.
So just about 3 percent of kidshad elevated lead levels.
And that's considered over alevel of five at that time was
the elevated marker, but inMilwaukee, it was almost twice
that about 5%.

(21:33):
And then when you breakMilwaukee down into smaller
chunks, smaller demographicsstart looking by zip codes and
neighborhoods, those disparitiesbecome even more prevalent.
So the north side and the southside are the highest.
levels overall, with the northside being overall the kind of
pinnacle of the crisis of thelead in Milwaukee, with some

(21:55):
neighborhoods, as high as about20 percent of the kids who live
in them being lead poisoned,which was reflective, which is
reflective of my patient panel.
And then why the second half ofyour question and there's You
know, to start with, there isjust from the beginning, a lot
of lead in Milwaukeehistorically, and that goes all

(22:15):
the way back to Milwaukee havingextensive and exponentially more
lead pipes than any other partof the state.
And apparently, back in theearly 1900s, the lead industry
had a very strong lobbyingaspect to it.
So, even though in other partsof the country and state.

(22:37):
Other places were getting awayfrom lead pipes as soon as like
the 1920s.
Milwaukee really didn't until1962 was when it was finally
banned here.
And lead based paint.
Another factor is that it'swarmer.
So all of us cold climates wereheavily utilizing lead paint
back in those days until again,it wasn't even that long ago in

(22:59):
1960 or 1978 when that wasfinally banned.
So there was a lot of lead hereto begin with, but we know it's
bad.
We know how to get rid of it.
So why is it still such aproblem here is the second half
of that question.
And that becomes a little morenuanced lead levels are one of
those public health outcomesthat you can point to, and they

(23:22):
will highlight where to look forracial disparities segregation.
Redlining systemic inequitiesand poverty.
Because these all culminate inelevated levels at still this
point in 2024.

Chris (23:36):
And Deanna, just to kind of touch on that too.
So you, you mentioned a coupleof programs that are in place
right now to address some ofthese disparities.
One thing you talked about wassome of the federal campaigns
that are going on the vicepresidentlead her initiatives,
any other initiative that you'vebeen a part of, or that, that

(23:57):
you've experienced firsthand andworking with here in Milwaukee.

Deanna (24:02):
I've been speaking with Tony Gilbert, an environmental
lawyer about things to help withthe lead paint issue.
Cause I find that's really themain issue is.
A lot of landlords in theconstructed housing.
That's really the issue on thenorth side is the bad housing

(24:25):
and the chipping paint.
That's really what's the mainsource of the lead.
So just steps and things to holdlandlords accountable for
keeping their propertiesupdated.
And the COLEition of landemergency also has this lead
safe health kit where they havefilter water pictures duct tape
to like tape, like the crack andpealing.

(24:47):
Paint off the walls to just kindof putting a band aid on the
issue.
So it's different things in thekit a swifter mop to wipe down
the window seals and things likethat to put a band-aid on the
issue until it is properly caredfor and maintained.
That's why I feel like on theNorth side, the issue is a lot
worse than on the South side,because they have things like

(25:08):
the South side health clinicthat actually goes door to door
and helps parents you know, withAnd kids, their level reduced
and we don't have that on thenorth side.
So a clinic or outreach centerslike that on the north side to
help educate parents and reducethe amount of lead kids are

(25:28):
exposed to will be great.
And that's what we're trying toimplement on the north side to
reduce the levels.
And we're starting with I forgotthe name of the program, but my
church nurse, she's talkingabout implementing the incident
of Hopkins free school.
Cause a lot of kids are testedwith very high lead levels now.
So they're actually testing nowdoing lead tests in schools.

(25:52):
So I'm just getting a lot ofgreat news about preventive
measures and things being doneto help lower the lead level for
kids on the north side, becauseon the south side is getting
better.
I'm hearing thanks to the 16thstreet community clinic.
So I want to see some of thatprogress coming to the north
side and more state laws.

(26:14):
I know there's like a targetedrental and special program in
other states that have beenimplemented that holds landlords
accountable.
A certain lead issues, butWisconsin doesn't have that.
So I'm learning things that weshould have that we don't have,
and we're just trying to figureout ways to make sure that not
only Wisconsin is safe, but thatis the main goal.
And once we figure out how toget these measures done in

(26:38):
Wisconsin, we can work withother states and hopefully it
can be like a worldwide thing.
We can tackle the issue head on.
But there's a lot of things thatneed to be done, a lot of
different components to puttogether to, to help with
preventive measures for beingexposed to lead.
So it's a lot of work, but it'sjust, it's just fun to hear and

(27:01):
learn about different things.
And different strategies to helpfight the issue.

Chris (27:07):
Well, it's good to know that, you know, there are a lot
of initiatives, a lot of wheelsin motion right now to try to
address this issue.
Dr.
Lisa, in terms of the commonsources of lead exposure, Deanna
kind of touched on a little bitbit about the chips and the
paint, things of that nature,water.
What are the common sources forlead exposure in this region,
and how can parents kind ofmitigate or reduce these risks

(27:28):
for kids?

Dr Lisa (27:30):
Yeah, Deanna and Aidan did a great job, especially.
And so, yeah, they alreadypointed out kind of the big
three, which are paint, water,and soil.
And when you have a kid withelevated blood levels, you have
to look at all of those sourcesbecause it often in Milwaukee is
a combination of all of them.

(27:51):
So for paint, like Deanna andAidan were saying, that is
probably still the most commonsource, especially on the north
side.
All of those houses will werebuilt before 1978.
So all of that old paint is leadbased.
And so if there's any chippingareas, the windows are a big
spot, the doors, the porchesthat's going to be a big spot

(28:12):
for the, the lead chips andApparently the lead actually
tastes, makes the taint tastebetter.
So that's one of the reasons whykids are going to do that.
But also developmentally, it isappropriate for little one year
old two year old to learn theirenvironment and the way they
learn is oral.
That's their strongest sense.
So they're going to pick up anylittle thing, put it in their
mouth.

(28:32):
So like Deanna was saying, theduct tape is huge.
If you see areas where there isbreakdown and Ideally, you've
got someone coming into thehouse to actually abate, get
that let out permanently.
If you own your house, there aresome programs that can help with
that.
If you don't, it is a hugeuphill battle.
If you have a landlord who'swilling to do all of that,

(28:53):
that's amazing.
Unfortunately, that's not therealeady I see most of the time.
Dan's story is unfortunatelymuch more common where I have
families getting evicted, ratherthan their houses getting
abated.
But yes, so paint, cover up withduct tape and look at all those
windows and then what Aidan saidtoo about washing his hands,

(29:14):
super important, especiallybefore and after because even if
you touch those lead based paintchips if you wash it off, you're
not going to ingest it.
Water, your second source, sothe lead pipes that run
throughout this city.
Like I was saying, they are veryprevalent in Milwaukee and if
there's any crack or leak,that's where that lead's getting
in.
And unfortunately, we don't findthat out until your child is

(29:36):
lead poisoned.
So that's a big problem.
Using bottlead water, which issomething that probably most of
my families do, but that's avery expensive fix, but that's
something they do.
A filter is super helpful.
You can get filters and they'llstay specifically like 99.
9 percent effective at gettingthe lead out.
You have to be on top of those.

(29:56):
You have to keep up on thosefilters.
They can't get it, you know, youhave to change them, refill
them.
And then if those are notoptions, you can do the trick of
running cold water through thepipes for at least three minutes
before using them.
This is not a foolproof waythough.
Depends on how much leakage, ifthat's going to help.
It has to be cold water.
Hot water actually disperses thelead more.

(30:18):
So some people will thinkboiling water will help.
That will do the opposite,actually.
And then soil is your other bigone and that's in Milwaukee due
to all of the paint.
And then from the gasoline fromback in those days is it's
actually in the soil here.
And kids love to eat dirt.
That's a huge problem.
so if you've got patches of soilthat are just exposed to cover

(30:39):
them, if you can gravel mulch,put something on them.
If you're planting things thatyou're going to eat, plant them
in a planter above the groundand away from any old paint.
Then there are like less commonsources, especially of imported
products like foods, candies,spices, old toys, makeup from

(31:00):
other countries.
So there's those things to watchout for.
And then if you work in a jobwhere you're exposed to lead,
you can bring that home.
And certain copies like fishing,hunting, pottery.
And so again, those arepotential exposures where you're
going to have to be very carefulabout, you know Not wearing
those clothes in the house, lotsof hand washing and being aware
of what products you're usingand what your kids are putting
in their mouths.

Chris (31:21):
Awesome.
Well, thank you guys forcovering that.
Oh, there we go.
This is the filter that we werediscussing here.
Thank you for showing that.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Deanna (31:35):
My church helped the Lutheran church.
They give out a lead, a picture.
It lasts for six months and theygive an extra filter to put in
the middle of the picture.
It's good for, Parents who haveyounger ones who drink, you
know, bottles of formula anddon't want to waste a lot of
money buying a bottle of wateror baby water in their jugs.
This is the best thing.

(31:58):
Especially if you have a sinklike mine, it doesn't really
adjust to the, the faucet one.
So it's a lot easier and easierto put together.

Chris (32:10):
Yeah, that's a good point too, right?
The ease of putting thingstogether and kind of the hassle.
A lot of folks, you know,especially if you're working you
know, and you got a family andyou get other things you got to
take care of, you want to makeit as easily accessible for
people as possible to use.
That way they're able to use itand reduce that risk as well.
So that's a good point.
Yeah.
One question for you, Deanna.
So have you, have you run intoany, like, Okay.

(32:33):
Common misconceptions about leadpoisoning or any myths that
about lead poisoning in all youradvocacy work and any ways that
you're you're able to address itthat you and Aidan are able to
kind of tell folks what arethings to expect about lead
poisoning?

Deanna (32:46):
The most common myth that I grew up hearing is the
boiling the water gets rid ofeverything.
I grew up learning that so itwas kind of hard to unlearn
that.
And my mother always made ustake off our shoes for into the
house.
I never understood that now Iget it so it's just different
things of just growing up andnot understanding why or that is

(33:10):
the most main misconception Isthe boiling the water will get
rid of all of the lead Or run itfor a long time, which it does
help to run the water for a longtime or My mother said if you
cook with hot water that getsrid of the lead No, just the
only thing gets rid of the leadis the is the filter but taking
your shoes off You Bring it tothe house.

(33:30):
That's essential.
That's common law in my housenow.
And washing your hands a lot,like often how doctors wash
their hands.
And I keep a lot of sanitizeraround, but I try to encourage
the kids to use soap and water.
If they have access to, youknow, soap and water in the
sink, instead of just usingsanitizers, I just feel like

(33:51):
water and soap is always better,but either way it gets done as
long as it's done because beingan advocate and knowing what I
know and everything that me andAidan have been through, we're
definitely paranoid now to thepoint where if they do change up
the lab pipes, which there stillis lab pipes in my neighborhood
because I checked at the lastTMJ4 interview, they actually
checked my lab pipes and Confirmmy suspicions that they weren't

(34:13):
changed out yet, but if theywere, I thought I'd still be
using preventive measures andfilter water because it's for my
own peace of mind of everythingwe've been through for a year.

Chris (34:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
In terms of some of the shortterm and long term health
effects of lead poisoning andchildren, how do they manifest
and what should folks look outfor?
I guess I'll start with Dr.
Chowdhury and then Deanna if youwant to answer with some of your
own personal experience too,that would be helpful.

Dr Lisa (34:44):
So lead can get everywhere.
Once it enters the body.
The body gets into thebloodstream, it's distributed to
the brain, kidneys, liver, andloves bones.
'cause it can mimic calcium.
The body can store lead in yourbones as long as 25 to 30 years
for just it's half life in thebloodstream.

(35:04):
It's closer to a month before itstarts to breakdown.
And in the soft tissue organsmonth and month and a half for
kids, what we worry the mostabout is those developing rates.
And so at the extreme level of.
eye lead exposure, the brain andthe central nervous system will
be attacked.
It is like a neurotoxin and itcan lead to coma seizures, even

(35:27):
death.
And if you survive that level,you'll likely have very
permanent intellectual, severedisabileady and behavioral
problems that are irreversible.
And what we now know that Ithink this is probably the most
common myth that I hear is.
There is no safe level.
The current level of lead thatwill give you an abnormal versus

(35:50):
normal 3.
5, which is down from even whenwe graduated from medical school
is five.
But that's, that is actually amarker of the prevalence of lead
so they move that target basedon where 97.
5 percent of the population'slead levels are.
So if you have a lead level at3.
5 or 3.
4 it doesn't mean it's normal.
Even a level one, two, three cancause irreversible damage to the

(36:15):
brain and development in kids.
So what the leaderature isshowing that kids who are lead
poisoned will have lower mathand reading scores by fourth
grade, lower high schoolgraduation rates.
And there is actually shownassociations between elevated
levels and increased risk ofincarceration.
And because of where I practiceand my patient panel.

(36:36):
I've now seen so many leadpoisoned, children, anecdotally.
I can see it clinically before Ieven see the number.
I have these little one and twoyear olds who I've known since
birth, and when they wereinfants, they were, you know,
ahead of every milestone,developing incredibly.
I'm writing, like, super baby intheir charts, and then all of a
sudden, the development juststops, or it regresses, and goes

(36:59):
backwards.
And they're just running homefrom the parents are exhausted,
the kids are off the wall, thebehavior looks something a
little bit like ADHD, a littlebit like autism, developmental
delays on top of that.
And when I see that I justalready know that it's going to
be lead.
And lead doesn't stop there.

(37:20):
Like I said, it stays in thosebones for pretty much your
lifetime when you get highenough levels.
And so even when you do getpregnant at a time of that high
calcium turnover, it can leachout and affect the fetus.
And so then you've got a wholenother generation.

Chris (37:36):
And Deanna, from your perspective, is there anything
as a parent that you noticedthat Dr.
Lisa said, you know, one or twoyear olds that were advanced at
one point in time and then kindof see that regression?
Was that your experience aswell?
Kind of seeing manifestations inAidan?
Or how did it, how did, how didyou see it?

Deanna (37:54):
For me, lead is just terrifying.
Just seeing both spectrums ofit.
I do advocate that no level oflead is safe for a child.
Because I've seen firsthand withmy kids are three years apart.
They both were exposed to it,but Aidan was exposed to it
longer and he was much youngerwhen he was exposed to it.
So for Jaden at the highest, hiswas 20 and his level went very

(38:18):
down.
Once we moved from that house,his level went down very fast,
only down to two because hewasn't exposed for it that long,
but for Aidan.
He was hospitalized twicebecause of how long he was
exposed to it.
And it took so, so much longer.
So it's going down there, buthe's still technically.
And I noticed that that's whenall of the things in school

(38:40):
started happening once they wereexposed to the lead.
James has like a few minorproblems, like dyslexia, a
little trouble concentrating andfocusing.
Aidan, he has the worst of itwith the ADHD, other things
coming on after he was exposedto lead.
And as for me When I was removedfrom the house, my kidneys did
start getting worse, but theysaid that was due to high blood

(39:01):
pressure, which I've always had,but my parents think that there
might be lead too, that exposedto you, because I found out that
when women are exposed to lead,they can transfer that lead to
their, their, their children.
So their babies from the womb.
So just learning so much thatI'm knowing and just
researching.
It's just terrifying to hearthat a lot of people who are in

(39:24):
the prison system are goingthrough a lot of things in life,
they all had effects with lead.
So just learning about lead isjust, it's just terrifying to
hear that and to see how leadreacts to every child
differently in the exposure andyou just never know what you're,
what you're going to get or whatthe lead will cause as far as
effects children and adults.

(39:44):
So it's just terrifying the moreI learn about lead.

Chris (39:50):
Yeah, you know, like you said, there's so much about it
that we're still finding out andthe guidelines change.
Like that, at least it said,even from when we were in
medical school, the quoteunquote acceptable levels have
changed significantly.
And I think kind of what bothyou guys highlighted, especially
In the setting of the long termeffects of lead exposure and the

(40:12):
fact that it remains in, youknow, the bones for 2030 years
you're talking about generationsof folks, not just that child
that are going to be affected inthe long run, and emphasize the
importance of programs like youguys are part of.
And emphasizes the importance ofinitiatives that we're taking
both at the state and thefederal level to kind of deal

(40:34):
with this, not, you know, inyears to come, but deal with it
now because, you know, the, thesooner that you act, the sooner
that you're going to preventthose, irreversible ripple
effects in society, so in termsof healthcare perspective and
the other two, you can speakfrom this from, from your own
personal experience ofperspective.

(40:54):
going to the hospitals and beingthere and kind of seeing some of
the therapies.
But for Dr.
Lisa, first, what steps canhealthcare providers take A, to
screen and then B, you know, howdoes early detection impact
treatment outcomes for, for, forkids exposed to lead?

Dr Lisa (41:12):
Yeah.
I mean, I think the goal isabsolutely prevention because
lead toxicity is 100 percentpreventable.
It is not something that anykid.
or adult like you were sayingDeanna should ever have to
suffer those health consequencesfrom.
And so the most primaryprevention actually comes not in
the healthcare setting, but Likeyou were talking about before,

(41:34):
Deanna, it's coming at thepolicy level, the governing
level, the rules around housing.
There should not be lead inanybody's water, in anybody's
paint.
There are many households forwhich this is not an issue, and
the houses for which are veryhighlighted segments of our
society.
But on my end, what I can do istry to catch it as soon as

(41:56):
possible, because like you weresaying, Deanna, the earlier we
catch it, the different theoutcomes when you look at Jaden
versus Aidan.
So standard practice forpediatrics is we screen all
kids, and this is a new, this isnew to them, there's now
universal screening at one andtwo years old for all kids.
It used to be kind of kids whohad state insurance versus
commercial insurance was just ifyou had risk factors, now it's

(42:18):
universal.
So, If you are working at aplace like I work where you're
seeing so much lead, you'reprobably going to follow a
different protocol where we willscreen twice a year between one
year, 18 months, two, two and ahalf, and three, because that's
the age where everyone's movingaround and putting things in
their mouth and then yearlyuntil five.

(42:38):
And the quicker you find thelead, the quicker you can do
interventions and stop it fromclimbing and get it down faster.
And then also the sooner you canstart all the therapies.
So occupational therapy is huge.
Speech therapy, almost all thesekiddos get some speech delays
out of this.
IEPs, if they're in school,that's one of those things that

(43:00):
you're legally entitlead to.
If you have lead exposure, doesthat mean in realeady you're
getting all those supports?
Not all schools have thoseresources, but we can at least
get that started.
Behavioral support frombehavioral specialists.
And ideally before even I'mseeing you at one in doing that
screening, I would love for itto start while you're pregnant.

(43:24):
You know, you're a mom, Deanna.
We know that when we'repregnant, we actually have more
time to deal with this as soonas that baby comes.
Like it's just survival mode.
So it would be great if we werescreening pregnant women, if we
were talking to, talking towomen and doing the education
before the baby comes.
I know one of the initiativesCole has is the safe baby kits,
the lead kits Deanna was talkingabout.

(43:44):
And their, their goal is thatevery mom who leaves the
hospital after you have yourbaby gets to go home with one of
these kits, right?
Because then when that newbornis drinking formula mixed with
water, they already have thatwater filter right there.
And then before that baby'scrawling, we've already talked
about it, you've not only babyproofed the, you know, the
light, the electrical sockets,all of those things, but you've

(44:06):
also lead proofed as part ofyour just standard baby proofing
before that baby's movingaround.
So then hopefully by the timethat baby turns one, I'm not
seeing any lead.
And even more, hopefully they'vealready taken it out of all the
houses.
But yeah, the sooner, thebetter.
Sure.

Chris (44:23):
And just to kind of springboard off of that, what,
what kind of, treatments oradvances are available to a
child that is lead poise?
And again at least I'll startwith you and then Deanna, you
can kind of tell me from yourperspective, seeing the
treatments and being in thehospital with your kids, just
kind of from your perspective,how what you saw and what you
experienced.

Dr Lisa (44:44):
So, unfortunately, there is no great treatment.
And there are no big advances.
It is a toxin.
And by the time it's in there,it's already caused so much
damage.
You know, I was talking to apsychiatrist once because I
just, kids who have leadpoisoning are harder to
medically manage.
They don't respond the same waythat kids would just straight

(45:04):
ADHD do.
And she was explaining to me tothink about it, like, like a
brain injury because that's howorganic it truly is to the
brain.
But it depends on the level howwe're going to treat it.
So like for Aidan his levelswere high enough that we had to
hospitalize him.
And if it's way high, like over70, you're going to be doing IV
medications over 45, you'regoing to do oral succumer, which

(45:28):
is a chelating agent to, to getthat level down sooner.
If you're not in thosecategories, we really just focus
on the environmental mitigationstrategies that Deanna talked
about.
And then the other piece is thenutrition, which is another way
to help get these levels downlower.
So that's what Aidan was talkingabout when he was advocating for
eating your green vegetables,which is the advocate for all

(45:50):
children.
But he's right.
Calcium, iron, vitamin C.
Those are the big three.
Throw in some zinc, vitamin D,phosphorus for bonus points.
I really focus on hemoglobin.
More iron.
We can get that let down sooner.
So all those kids I'm going tostart on at least a
multivitamin, if not someferrous sulfate.
And then the The reallyunfortunate part for kids is

(46:12):
there's so much follow up.
So the finger poke we do at thatscreening is just a screen.
It is not diagnostic.
You can have lead on yourfingers.
We pick it up.
False positive.
It's not in your blood.
And so Aidan definitely knowsfirsthand that when it, what it
requires is kind of serial blooddraws to monitor.
I remember once Aidan lockinghimself in the bathroom at next

(46:34):
door.
Because he was so traumatized byall of the medical procedures
we've had to do.
But yes, so there are serialblood draws.
We do x rays if it starts comingback up because we can irrigate
the bowels.
If we see anything in the gutsthat shows that there's lead
ingested.

(46:54):
So those are kind of thestrategies we employ right

Chris (46:58):
now.
Deanna, being a parent of achild and that therapy kind of
walk us through, you know, thehospitalization.
Tell me what, what occurredduring those hospitalizations
from your standpoint.
What are some of the things thatyou experienced?

Deanna (47:12):
Well I'm just fortunate that I only had one child that
was hospitalized and not two forJaden, because his lead wasn't
that high, he wasn't able to gohome, which is not, and as long
as he was away from theenvironment, they had to let
exposure, and the slogan that welike to preach at COLE is well
fed, less lead.

(47:32):
So just changing his diet, hislead level went down
drastically.
As for Aidan, he had to do thechelation process at the
hospital where the succumber toabsorb the lead.
But the thing is, once you're onthat medicine, and it's
absorbing the lead out of thebody and going through the
liquids, not through urine.
Once you're back in anenvironment that is around lead,

(47:56):
it's like a magnet.
So the lead level went higherthe second time because we went
back to that house.
So his lead level was higher thesecond time he was exposed to it
with that medicine.
So that was the downside ofreturning back to that house and
dealing with the child withlead.
It was, it was, it was justrough trying to just navigate
that whole process.
But three before three, that'sthe slogan that we teach the

(48:19):
parents to make sure that theirkids are tested three times
before the age of three.
To check their lead levels.
The biggest part is the dietchange, and you know, it was
hard for Aidan at first becausehe loved corn dogs and other
things that he's not supposed tobe eating, but it's much easier
now and even fun.

(48:39):
Just to go to the church gardensto learn about different fruits
and vegetables, get the kidsexcited.
We're actually working on a leadfree cookbook with recipes that
are foods that help with lead,but you make them in a way where
kids actually enjoy and like it.
I think it's fun.
And his favorite thing to do nowis smoothies, blending.

(49:01):
He will leaderally eat anythingyou put in the blender into a
smoothie.
He will leaderally drink.
He loves smoothies.
That's what I found out abouthim at the hospital because he
had to drink a lot of it becausethey had to give him a lot of
liquids to the medicine to work.
Another thing that we discoveredis just when he was working with
Child Dynamics, which theyclosed down because of the
pandemic, but that was a greatprogram for him.

(49:22):
They had music therapy, arttherapy, and that's really when
we discovered Creativity.
He loves trains.
He loves artwork.
And now that's how the book cameabout.
He's the illustrator of thebook.
And it's just amazing to see.
He has really latched on to thathobby.
Every time you see Aidan, he'llbe playing with trains and he'll
be drawing.
And that's really, that programis really what brought out his

(49:44):
creative processes.
So when we talk with kids whoare affected by lead, we try to
get them to find out what theircreative niches and just kind of
latch onto that.
And keep them focused onpositive things like gardening
and artwork and music therapy,whatever the kids love, trains,
or just keep them focused onthings like that.
That really helps with kids whoare liAidanden, who constantly

(50:09):
have to be doing something orfocus on something or something
in their hand.
I know Legos and geometry dashor stuff like this, there's
certain things that helps kidsexercise their mind brain
activities.
That's really what we'd love tofocus on.
We're talking to children whoare affected by lead.
That's really what helps andwith the diet, I find that's the

(50:30):
most important thing, whatyou're putting in your body.
Yeah,

Chris (50:34):
and you brought up something that I wanted to touch
on there too, in addition to allthat amazing information about,
you know, from Ada's ownpersonal experience, as well as
your experience.
Yeah.
But this is the first and secondofficial celebrity cameos here
in I'll post check Wisconsin, wegot you and and Aidan here.
I heard a rumor that you justgot a call from New York Times

(50:57):
magazine.
At your book will be featured intheir hundred 27th anniversary
issue.
Can you tell us a little bitabout the book, because I
definitely want folks to go outpick up the book.
Definitely wanna support thoseefforts here in the city as
well.
That's big for the for the cityand big for you guys too.

Deanna (51:14):
Yes, I'll be speaking with them later on today for
more information.
I'm really excited about that.
They callead me on a what, aweekday.
I was like, I was just shocked.
But they do want to feature thebook.
The book is callead Aidan theLead Free Superhero.
It's completely illustrated byAidan detailing his story
experience with lead.

(51:36):
And I wrote the words, ofcourse, but it's just me
narrating his story.
I don't know what else to sayabout the book.
It's, it's awesome.
His artwork is He really, hereally brings the book to life.
It's just, it's amazing.
My goal is was for, to create achildren's book that would
inspire children to learn whatthe lead monster is.

(51:57):
I give all the credit to Aidanbecause it was his genius idea
to create three lead monstersone representing the water, one
representing the paint and onerepresenting the soil.
So if you look at the artwork inthe book, you'll see three
different lead monsters hisartwork is just captivating.
In the back of the book, I madesure I had the church nurse put
down some information for theparents of what to do and where

(52:21):
to go what kind of resources ifyour child is affected by lead,
or what to do if you think yourchild is affected by lead,
because I felt like that wasimportant because I wish I had
someone like me there when mychild was exposed, because I had
to learn a lot of this on myown.
So I wanted to have a resourceguide for parents.
I also included a wonderful poemthat I wrote at the hospital

(52:44):
when I was hospitalized, and Ididn't think I would make it
home, so I wrote that justbecause I didn't make it home,
that I left something from me tothem.
But since I am home, I justpublished it in the book for all
the other parents to enjoy aswell.
And it was just a blessing to beable to deliver the first copy
to the vice president.

(53:04):
And I'm just happy that I get somany calls now from everywhere.
So I'm out from the JunctionCOLEition out in Ohio.
They're doing a lot of work inOhio to reduce the lead levels
in their own city.
And they read my book and theyasked me and Amy to come out.
In August to their last summitto share our story and read our
book and to meet a left freesuperhero and we begin a lot of

(53:28):
calls like that.
People who enjoyed the book.
And the last person I wasexpecting to call about the book
was the New York Times, but thatwould get a lot of publicity
publicity.
I've been ordering my authorcopies and just handing them out
leaderally at every event thatwe get callead invited to.
I'll go on the.

(53:49):
I'll go on the website and ordersome author copies and just hand
them out free.
So you give this to your kids.
My goal is just to spreadawareness.
So when people purchase thebooks, that's a bonus.
Or they give me money and I'llpurchase more books to give out
for free.
My goal is just to spread theawareness and to inspire others.
Who are going through what I'mgoing through or just want to

(54:11):
read the book.
or want more information aboutlead and what it is and how to
get involved.
That's that's really the goal.
So being able to be featured ina magazine that's going to
definitely let the message beknown worldwide because it is a
global issue of lead.
So I thought it's definitelygoing in the right direction of
bringing awareness.
So I'm very happy and proud tohear that.

(54:33):
And I told Aidan, Aidan knowswhat the New York Times is, but
he's excited.
It ain't got to him yet.

Chris (54:42):
It's a big deal, but that's dope, man.
You know, I'm gonna need, I'mgonna need Marvel, I'm gonna
need everybody to get on boardtoo, right?
Like we need, they need aninfusion of superheroes anyway,
so there we go.

Deanna (54:54):
My favorite part about this whole experience is going
through it with my kids andwatching their attitude.
Because the first thing Aidansaid, We went to the White
House.
He said, where's the rest of thekids?
Where's the candy?
It's been fun.
It's been fun going everywherewith them and experiencing.
Experiencing these things oncelots of things with them.

(55:15):
That's the best part.

Chris (55:16):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Well, to close it out you know,I'll start with Dr.
Chowdhury and then I'll bring itback to you, Deanna, just to
kind of close it out with anyadvice, but what advice would
you give parents in Milwaukee tohelp protect their children from
lead exposure and to minimizetheir risk of lead poisoning?

Dr Lisa (55:36):
Step one is being aware.
That this is such a huge issuein the city.
I was really surprised to learnthat.
And I think if you can startwith exactly like Deanna and
Aidan are talking about all thepublic awareness is step one,
and then to protect yourselfbefore it even before you have
that baby.

(55:56):
Figure out your risks.
If you're renting, ask ifthere's a history of lead paint,
lead pipes, they're legallysupposed to give you that
information, but find that out.
And if you're buying the house,get it inspected, check the
water, check the paint, checkall of those things before,
before you make that final plan.

(56:16):
If you're able to replace, I'vetalked to families who are like,
is it worth it?
It's worth it.
It's difficult in this city,like with the lead pipes,
there's a cost sharing situationwith the city.
So it's an investment on yourend, but it is absolutely worth
it.
So if you're able to replaceeverything you can wherever

(56:37):
there's lead, get it out.
And if you're not able to, whichis the bulk of the lead exposure
because you're renting thenmitigate as much as you can.
Just like Deanna was explaining,you know, wash the hands, no
shoes in the house, use the ducttape, wet dust so that using

(56:58):
something that's gonna pick upthe dust instead of putting it
back into the air, keep thewindows closed.
use the water filters, mitigateas much as you can and maximize
the nutrition on the other hand.
And then if your child isexposed, you are not alone.
You are not a bad parent.
This was not your fault.
And there are many people outhere who are going through the

(57:20):
same thing.
So find your supports, find yourresources, find a medical
professional that you trust.
It's a long journey.
It's not a, it's not a shortjourney.
And so You're but you're notalone and you can find your
people to help you through this.
As you step by step, make yourway through it.

Chris (57:40):
Absolutely.
And Deanna anything from yourend any, any closing remarks or
any advice for parents that mayfind themselves in the same
situation.

Deanna (57:50):
My advice is to well fed, let's let maybe for three
in to always filter your water.
There is no safe level of leadin the blood for a child.
My church, that's the bestresource.
I feel like that's helped methrive in this journey, or our
journey, as Aidan would say, todefeat the lead monster so

(58:13):
reaching out to your doctors andyour church and other community
organizations, that's reallybeen a big help.
And I've learned so much forthem.
So I would definitely recommendEveryone to read Aidan the Lead
Free Superhero book as well.
Just hearing Aidan story andgetting inspired by it and the
information in the back is veryuseful and helpful to children

(58:34):
as well as parents.

Aiden (58:37):
Anything else you want to add?
All I want to add is, I thankDr.
Lisa.
And I thank her because shealways made me happy and she
never failead to give me shotsjust to make sure I can see
another day because the leadpoisoning was, was almost killed

(59:03):
me two times.
And I thank Dr.
Lisa for helping me with mylead.
And I thank her for all givingme toys and strawberry
shortcake.

Dr Lisa (59:14):
Well, I thank you, Aidan, and your big brother,
Jaden, and Deanna, and babyRayRay, you guys have taught me
so much.
about lead, lead in Milwaukee,the barriers, the resilience,
the, you know, everything I havelearned so much from you guys
being your pediatrician.

(59:34):
It's been such an honor to be onthis journey with you.

Chris (59:38):
Wow.
Well, thank you guys so much.
And I'm going to definitely PostAidan the Lead Free Superhero on
our website and make sure wekind of get it out.
Everybody go and get the book.
Thank you so much for joining ushere today.
Thank you for taking the time tosharing your story.
You know, like Dr.
LIsa said, your, your story ofresilience is inspiring and I

(01:00:01):
hope that it helps many otherparents in, in, in Milwaukee and
throughout Wisconsin because,you know, it lead us everywhere,
like you said, and allthroughout the country and all
throughout the world.
So, you know, you guys are doingamazing work to bring awareness
and to share your story.
And again, just, you know, Ithink this is going to have
effects down the road that, thatwe've never seen before in lead

(01:00:21):
prevention.
Thank you.
So, so much good information inthat interview with Dr.
Chowdhury Aidan and Deanna.
I think it's important to breakdown some information that they
gave and to put it into somecontext with what we're seeing
in Milwaukee.
One of the things that we talkabout is the prevalence of lead

(01:00:45):
poisoning what we're able to seethroughout Milwaukee County is
around 4.
7 percent of children under theage of six that were tested in
2021 alone had blood lead levelsabove five micrograms per
decaliter.
And again, as we discussed,that's the level considered of

(01:01:05):
toxicity that we see for quoteunquote, lead poison children.
But as we learned from Deannaand from Dr.
Chowdhury, any amount of lead ina child's system should be
considered lead poisoning.
Now, that was in MilwaukeeCounty.
So again, 4.
7 percent of children under theage of six that are tested for
toxicity, now, you compare thatto the remainder of the state,

(01:01:28):
uh, the same age group, andthat's only about 2.
8 percent of kids in the sameage group that you see meet that
criterion for lead toxicity.
And so you see there's a higherprevalence here in Milwaukee
County.
So when we talk about leadpoisoning, we're seeing an over
prevalence in the city itselfand in the Milwaukee County
area.

(01:01:48):
In fact, when you look attesting from 2018 to 2021, it
shows that childhood leadpoisoning specifically on the
north side of Milwaukee isanywhere from 18 to 20 percent
of the Children that are livingin that area.
And that kind of shows thatdisproportion a little bit more
just by zip code alone.

(01:02:08):
And it should be noted that thatis only in the kids that are
being tested.
There's likely a number of kidsthat are not being tested, which
means those numbers are probablylarger.
One thing we should mention isthat in other cities and in
other states, for instance,Rochester, New York, Cleveland,
Ohio, these are cities thatrequire inspections for health

(01:02:29):
hazards before tenants even movein.
So, these municipalities, thesecities require lead testing,
they require lead inspectionsbefore the tenants are able to
move in to avoid and circumventthat exposure in the first
place.
Many lead prevention advocates,not only in the state of
Wisconsin, but nationwide, oftenbring these examples up as

(01:02:54):
examples that could be utilizedin the state of Wisconsin to
potentially curb childhood leadpoisoning and childhood lead
exposure.
However, due to state cappingthat was placed on the books by
lawmakers in 2011, a lot oflandlords are not forced to
abide by these local rentalprotections for tenants.

Speaker (01:03:14):
And in fact, due to these laws in 2011, lawmakers
prohibited municipalities fromrequiring rentals to be
certified or registered or evenlicense and limited the scope of
these rental inspection programsthat could be potentially life
saving for some kids in the longrun.

(01:03:34):
According to a recent PBS study.
That Deanna was a part of and ithighlighted her story and
Aiden's story showed wasexamples of how some cities and
some municipalities in the stateof Wisconsin are getting around
some of this very rigidlegislation that's in place to
avoid any testing or anystandards for lead prevention.

(01:03:58):
According to this story, citiessuch as Eau Claire, Racine, and
Oshkosh require rentalinspections for certain building
hazards, and they get aroundthese laws by using wording to
comply with the state law on thefact that they will lump it into
same categories as healthhazards.
These communities will targettheir rental inspections to

(01:04:20):
address habitabilities orviolations of habitability and
anything that could cause asubstantial hazard to the health
of the tenant.
They can include lead in thoseparameters.
The issue is Milwaukee Countyunfortunately could target lead
in a similar way, but in recentyears we've lacked the funding
to do so on a larger scale.

(01:04:43):
So with that being said, there'sstill a lot of work that needs
to be done on lead prevention inMilwaukee and in the state of
Wisconsin.
Although Deanna mentioned quitea few programs that are in place
right now to help parents andhelp children in the city of
Milwaukee specifically.
However, this is just anotherexample of a healthcare
disparity in the city ofMilwaukee that we need to

(01:05:04):
continue to address here, andthat we need to continue to
advocate for our patients andfor parents of patients who are
lead poisoned.
We need to continue to buildawareness to the long term
effects of lead poisoningbecause I don't think that that
gets out enough, as well as howlong lead remains in the body
and the long term effects thatit's having, because we're not

(01:05:25):
only seeing lead poisoningeffects on the patients
themselves and our pediatricpatients.
We're seeing it in theirfamilies for generations to
come.
This issue is not going to goaway overnight, uh, and I hope
to address it in futureepisodes.
I hope to continue to touch onlead poisoning and the issue
that we're having in the state,as well as in the city of
Milwaukee.

(01:05:46):
And it'll be good to get anupdate for you guys as well of
any advances that are being madeor any pieces of legislation
that are coming up that can behelpful for families here.
I want to thank the brilliantand amazing Dr.
Chowdhury, not only for comingout to speak in with us, but for

(01:06:06):
many things that she does.
This podcast would not bepossible without her.
What I am today would not bepossible without her support and
her love.
And I mean, words can't describehow much I owe to Dr.
Chowdhury and how much I loveher.
I want to thank Deanna and Aidanfor having me.

(01:06:28):
Sharing their story with us.
I would advocate for you guys togo out and get the book Aiden
the Lead Free Superhero I havemy copy I'll link copies to the
website so that you guys can goout and support his work Be sure
to check it out The book isfantastic.
You're able to see the artworkthat Aiden was able to do and

(01:06:49):
the stories that Deanna was ableto weave out of the works of art
So definitely go check that out.
A lot of good information tobreak down the lead issue, not
only for adults, but for kids aswell.
And there are additionalresources in the back of the
book as Deanna Also, if youcheck out the website, there
will be links and resources forlead testing and lead

(01:07:12):
information for adults and forkids on the website.
So be sure to check that out.
Again, I want to thank everyonefor listening.
This eighth episode, I want toinvite you to our next episode.
We're going to have more topicson social determinants of health
in the city of Milwaukee and inthe state of Wisconsin.

(01:07:32):
We're going to have morehealthcare.
cases for you to hopefully giveyou more information to keep you
out of the ER.
So as always, take care ofyourselves, take care of each
other, and if you need me, comeand see me.