One particular category of toxic tort is injury caused by exposure to lead-based paint. The hazards of lead-based paint have been known since the early 1900s, when the use of lead in the manufacture of paint was banned in Australia. Lead has also been found in dangerous levels in vinyl mini-blinds and in the finishing on fixtures such as bath tubs. The greatest risk of injury from lead poisoning is to children under the age of seven, whose developing bodies and brains are sensitive to even small amounts of lead, which can leave children with irreversible injury that does not appear until many years after the exposure to lead. Studies have shown that lead poisoned children are more likely to drop out of high school and to live a lifetime of unemployment.
Lead poisoning can take important abilities from a child.
Because a large percentage of children who have been lead poisoned may have consequently suffered mild to moderate brain damage, these children are entitled to be compensated by those reponsible for the lead poisoning. Although the effects of lead poisoning are permanent and irreversible, economic compensation can fund a child's specialized schooling, occupational therapy, future medical care, and other support services. As with other toxic tort cases, Lead-Paint poisoning cases require experienced attorneys who have special expertise with lead poisoning cases. Pediatric medical doctors with expertise in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of children with lead poisoning will have to be employed. As with most toxic tort cases, they are vigorously defended by landlords, who usually defend on the theory that any deficits that the child exhibits are due to bad parenting, genetic inferiority, or lead from other sources.