In an attempt to circumvent the legislative process, they are all too willing to pursue through litigation what was rejected by the legislature. For years, trial lawyers have sued landlords over lead poisoning and, in some cases, have won large judgments. But unlike landlords, the paint and pigment companies remain unscathed. Once it was known to be harmful, paint makers voluntarily stopped using lead in interior paints in the 1950s. The industry supported a 1978 federal ban.
Lead poisoning arises from many products besides paint.
In any event, it s impossible to prove which manufacturer s paint, if any, was responsible. Never mind those facts. If the blandishments of the trial lawyers prove irresistible, Texas school districts will be arguing, not that the owners or landlords of aging, substandard homes should have maintained them more diligently, but that lead poisoning in the 21st century should be blamed on the makers of paint that was used in the 1920s through the mid-1950s. That s bad logic, bad law, and bad public policy, directed against innocent companies that produce useful products, employ thousands of people, and haven t used lead for nearly half a century. Nonetheless, private attorneys have fanned out in a frenzied search for politicians anxious to squeeze big bucks from another hapless industry.