New York Lead Poisoning & Personal Injury Lawyers

Lead is a heavy metal which, while naturally occurring, has no known benefit to humans.  It is a highly potent neurotoxin which is dangerous for all humans, and is most dangerous when people are exposed to lead as young children. Lead poses the greatest danger to children and is often found in old paint or paint dust, which may be found in older housing, such as in homes or multiple dwellings built prior to 1978. Lead paint exposure can cause irreversible brain damage as well as many other health problems, and behavioral or learning problems.

Lead poisoning occurs when a person (often a young child) inhales or swallows lead and it accumulates in the person’s body.  While the NY Public Health Law has defined lead poisoning as occurring at a level of  10 µg/dL (micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole blood) for purposes of overall health policy, the overwhelming consensus in the scientific community is that even low-dose lead exposure is dangerous for children and can cause irreversible brain damage.  The CDC has recognized that there is no known safe lead level.

The most common cause of lead poisoning in children is from peeling, chipping, or chalking of old paint.  A child can be lead poisoned simply by inhaling lead particles from paint which are airborne in the child’s living environment.  Young children are also exposed through routine hand-to-mouth activity after they have touched surfaces which were laden with lead paint dust, or by eating paint chips.

A landlord may be held liable for a child’s injuries caused by lead exposure in the child’s residence if the landlord was aware (or should have been aware) that a young child was residing there and/or where the landlord knew that the apartment/house contained a hazardous lead condition and nonetheless failed to remedy the lead condition.

Being sued for being negligent and poisoning a young child is not typically a legal basis to evict a tenant with a lease.

Lead-based paint often peels and chips. Often, lead paint can be found on surfaces such as door jambs or window sills or other friction/impact surfaces.  Lead paint or dust can easily be sent airborne this way, and a child can then efficiently ingest the lead paint.  Young children are also exposed through routine hand-to-mouth activity after they have touched surfaces which were laden with lead paint dust, or by eating paint chips. Once ingested, a young child’s body efficiently absorbs the lead which is deposited throughout the child’s body, including the young child’s brain.