Community advocates and health officials are sounding the alarm on lead poisoning, urging parents, particularly those in historically Black and brown neighborhoods, to get their children tested for the invisible toxin.
Garry Holland, a lead testing program director and former NAACP education chair, emphasized the severe consequences of exposure.
“When it comes to neighborhoods that have been contaminated with lead, especially in Martindale-Brightwood … there is concern because of what it can do to a child’s brain,” Holland told the Indianapolis Recorder. “Lead mimics calcium and can flow into the bone and from there it can enter the brain.”
A substantial amount of data backs this concern. According to the IU Indianapolis Center for Urban Health, lead poisoning damages the brain, especially in children under 6. It can lower intelligence and cause behavioral problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states there is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood.
The primary source is lead-based paint, which was banned in 1978 but is present in approximately 62% of Indianapolis homes built before 1980. Paint chips and dust contaminate soil and household surfaces, and children are exposed through hand-to-mouth contact.
Holland noted the problem is historical and persistent.
“Martindale Brightwood was one of the first areas in the city that experienced high levels of lead,” Holland said, tracing contamination to industrial activity in the 1940s. “Lead doesn’t go anywhere. It hangs around. It stays in the soil.”
This legacy pollution creates an environmental justice issue, disproportionately burdening low-income and minority communities. A Reuters investigation found thousands of U.S. lead hotspots receiving little attention.
Holland’s advocacy began around 2018 after witnessing a child eat paint chips off a school wall. The child was poisoned.
“The plan is to implement lead testing in the schools across our communities,” he said. “Awareness is only half of the fight.”
Marion County residents can receive free blood lead testing from noon to 4:30 on Thursdays at the health department, 3901 Meadows Drive. The department also conducts complimentary Lead Inspections and Risk Assessments for qualifying homes.
Homeowners and renters can contact the Marion County Public Health Department at 317-221-2155 for more resources.
“Get your child tested now,” Holland said.
Contact Multi-Media & Senior Sports Reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846 or via email at noralp@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Facebook and TikTok @Horsemensportsmedia. For more news, click here.
Noral Parham is the multi-media & senior sports reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Parham has worked with various leagues to provide a diverse perspective in sports, including the Big Ten, Big East, IHSAA, IndyCar, MLB, NHRA, NFL, NBA, WNBA, WWE and the Olympics. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.
