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St. Louis Launches New Lead Eradication Plan

By Kevin Lavery, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – At the core of the city's renewed strategy is a stepped up lead removal initiative that first targets homes of at-risk children and pregnant women.

Consultant Ruth Ann Norton says the city is expanding its pre-rental inspection program to cover properties that had never before been checked for lead:

"What was happening in some neighborhoods often was not happening in the neighborhoods that needed it most," Norton said.

"And through that process, if it's a home with a pregnant woman or a child that we can get in first, we're going to do that and then we're going to go back from there to triage these houses.

The city also plans to hire a lead hazard control director to coordinate lead abatement agencies. Children aged six and younger are most at risk of developmental disorders resulting from lead poisoning.

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