Dorr Dearborn MD, Ph.D. – Mary Ann Swetland Professor Emeritus and Department Chair Emeritus, Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University

Dear Colleagues:

The Cleveland Foundation reports that, “Greater Cleveland has a lead poisoning problem and it’s threatening our youngest residents.” The New York Times reported that children in Glenville are twice as likely (14.2%) to have elevated blood lead levels as children in Flint, Michigan – “not because of bungled decisions about drinking water but largely because a decades-long attack on lead in household paint has faltered.”

As the Times reported, “The federal government began phasing out leaded gasoline in 1975 and banned lead-based household paints in 1978… By 2006, blood lead levels in children had fallen to close to a tenth of their 1970s levels.” But progress has slowed and Cleveland is among the cities where it has been particularly slow. Why, after forty years of effort, is lead poisoning, especially due to lead paint, still a problem?

The issue is not lack of knowledge about the extent of the problem, its consequences, or what to do. On this campus alone the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has reported on housing deterioration and lead poisoning, and on neighborhood “hotspots” with high vacancy rates, violent crime, and lead exposure; the School of Nursing is part of a partnership to screen children for lead exposure. The issue gets plenty of publicity.

But inadequate action. Why? Dr. Dearborn has worked on the issue, and been frustrated by the difficulties, for many years. He brings us his report as a scholar and advocate.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Dorr G. Dearborn, Ph.D., MD is the Mary Ann Swetland Professor Emeritus and Former Chairman of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine. In addition, he is Professor of Pediatrics (ret.) in the Pediatric Pulmonary Division, Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. His training, clinical practice, and research interests combined biochemistry with pediatric pulmonary medicine, especially as impacted by environmental exposures. He is an Executive Board member for the Healthy Homes Advisory Council of Greater Cleveland, served nationally on the American Thoracic Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee and is on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Center for Healthy Homes. His research has been funded by NIH, EPA, HUD, and the CDC. Dr. Dearborn has chaired a Task Force of Cuyahoga County’s Invest in Children focused on early childhood education of lead poisoned children.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.

* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.

The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

November 17: Digging Into Football and Voting With Data. With Andrew Healy Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Loyola Marymount University and Senior Strategist for Player Personnel, Cleveland Browns.

November 24: Thanksgiving Break

December 1: The Stakes in “Tax Reform.” With Daniel Shoag, Visiting Associate Professor of Economics.

December 8: Environmental Policy in the Pruitt EPA. With Catherine J. LaCroix J.D., Adjunct Professor of Law.