Lead poisoning could destroy almost all parts of the body especially the brain. Lead could accumulate in the blood if there is a much exposure to the toxic substance which interferes with most of the processes of the body. The government should protect the people from toxic substance by regulating and controlling its commercial use. However, government agencies also protect the industries that include lead to their production since these companies provide them the profit. This became the dilemma in which an ethical issue arises and the victims are the American children.
The article ‘Lead Poisoning: The Ignored Scandal’ by Helen Epstein is about how government policy making became careless and indifferent when taking care of the poor and the African Americans. The author discussed the research done by the researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute in John Hopkins University. The purpose of the research is to analyze the most effective abatement processes that would lead to lowest blood lead level for the children in Baltimore. However, the study became center for issues and scandal when they found out that most of the poor black children were exposed to toxic lead during the study. The Kennedy Krieger institute was sued and this issue did not call the public attention it needs because most of the public health professionals approved the study.
The method of the study performed by the researchers at Kennedy Krieger is considered unethical. Three lead removal methods were done in the houses in Baltimore which is covered in the study. Level 1 abatement is considered the lowest in cost but the poorest method of removing lead in the walls of the houses. Level 2 abatement is the median of the cost and removal method while the level 3 abatement is the most costly and most comprehensive removal of lead. The participants were small families with toddlers and they are placed in the renovated house to live in for a few months. After months, the blood was taken from the toddlers for analysis of lead.
The article is about an ethical issue which could be regulated and provisioned by the government policy makers. However, the government agencies are not prepared to protect the citizens from the hazards since they also have to protect the business or the economy of the nation. The issue of Baltimore toddler study is about the research body that should be sued and the poor children of Baltimore that should be protected by the government. Policy making should always protect first the safety of the public and not the interest of a few. In this article, ethics for research should be reviewed and the government policy makers should act on the issue.
Reference:
Epstein, H. (2013). Lead poisoning: the ignored scandal. The New York Review of Books. Retrieved from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/mar/21/lead-poisoning-ignored-scandal/?page=1.
