{"id":2528,"date":"2016-04-07T14:54:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T19:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/?p=2528"},"modified":"2024-06-20T15:45:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:45:04","slug":"ips-students-uniting-against-lead-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/?p=2528","title":{"rendered":"IPS Students Uniting Against Lead Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

IPS students are uniting to create change for a health issue that is affecting millions of families and children across the country and they are asking you to support the mission too.\u00a0Among them is Emily Benfer (IPS social justice certificate student,\u00a0clinical professor of law, and the director of the Health Justice Project) who wrote a piece about this issue that was recently published in the New York Times<\/em>. In addition, there is Alicia Crosby (MASJ ’16) who recently drafted\u00a0an email, making the points below.<\/p>\n

Children across the country are developing lead poisoning and suffering from the devastating and permanent harm it causes. Over 1.6 million families with children in federally assisted housing across America are at risk of exposure to lead hazards because outdated federal policies, in place since the 1990\u2019s, fail to protect them. It’s clear that we must call this crisis what it is – a lead epidemic. The lead present in these homes, as well as in pipes and soil, creates environments in which Black children are nearly 3x more likely than their white peers to have elevated blood lead levels. The crises we see in Flint, Michigan as well as those emerging in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other locales are just the tip of the iceberg. Join the Health Justice Project at Loyola University Chicago<\/a> and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law as they work to elevate public awareness and mobilize communities to take action to alleviate this epidemic\u2019s irreversible effects.<\/p>\n

\"Credit:<\/a>
Photo credit: Dylan Petrohilos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can help end the lead epidemic and protect our children\u2019s futures. There are a number of ways you can connect to this movement for change.<\/p>\n

Inform yourself and others on the root causes of and solutions to the lead epidemic by reading and sharing these articles:<\/p>\n