Childhood lead poisoning: the torturous path from science to policy.
J Clin Invest
; 116(4): 853-7, 2006 Apr.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16585952
ABSTRACT
The long history of lead poisoning provides many lessons about the process by which scientific knowledge is translated into public health policy. In the United States, lead was added to paint and to gasoline in enormous quantities long after medical evidence clearly showed that excessive lead exposure caused considerable morbidity in the population. This article discusses some of the factors that contributed to the slow pace of efforts to address this problem, including the ubiquity and magnitude of lead exposure during much of the twentieth century, which produced a distorted notion about the blood lead level that can be considered "normal"; the prevailing model of disease during this period, notably the novelty of the concept of subclinical disease; the fact that childhood lead poisoning affected mostly families that were politically and economically disenfranchised, fostering a "blame the victim" attitude; and that controlling lead exposure would have impeded efforts to achieve other desirable goals, illustrating the role that value trade-offs often play in policy decisions.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Política Pública
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Child
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Clin Invest
Año:
2006
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos