Funds for the Centers for Disease Control to use in preventing lead poisoning have been cut by Congressional deficit hawks for fiscal 2012. That will mean serious and permanent harm to kids' health in some 35 of the states who get CDC grants under the program. Health advocates are trying to get the funds restored for fiscal 2013.

"When Devon Owens checked his then 2-year-old daughter, Dallas, into the hospital last year, he wasn't sure what to expect. He just knew that routine medical tests had found her blood contained nearly six times more lead than what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers safe.

Today, after Dallas' 19-day hospital stay and frequent return visits, Owens is well-acquainted with the dangers posed by lead paint. Like hundreds of thousands of other children, his daughter now faces a lifelong risk of everything from a lower IQ to greater hyperactivity to violent behavior.

So why, he wants to know, have funds for the CDC's Lead Poisoning Prevention Program just been cut 93 percent?"

Lynne Peeples reports for the Huffington Post March 16, 2012. [2]