Lead poisoning is the greatest environmental danger facing American children.
Lead poisoning is the greatest environmental danger facing American children. However, many upper-middle class youngsters who live in homes built before 1950 are also at risk. Lead-based paint has always been a major source of lead in the home. Children who grow up in deteriorating buildings amid peeling paint and paint dust are placed in a potentially hazardous environment. Fortunately, this toxic paint was banned for residential use in 1978.