Markowitz Gerald - Lead wars: the politics of science and the fate of Americas children

The story Rosner and Markowitz tell of generations of children gravely damaged by promiscuous dispersal of lead, and the persistent attempts made to evade responsibility for the harms caused, is both true and shocking. This book will not just educate future environmental and health leaders, it should outrage them.

RICHARD J. JACKSON , MD, MPH, Professor and Chair, Environmental Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Can being poor justify differing standards for research or a focus merely on harm reduction and the politically feasible? Markowitz and Rosner make the compelling case that in public health the practical and possible may in the end be immoral and dangerous, and a consequence of the war on science. A necessary read for anyone who cares about public health, the role of government, children, medical experimentation and environmental justice.

SUSAN M. REVERBY , McLean Professor in the History of Ideas and Professor of Womens and Gender Studies, Wellesley College

Lead poisoning remains a tragedy (and scandal) of immense proportions, and the authors utilize new sourcesincluding previously unexamined court recordsto tell a story that is as gripping as it is important.

ROBERT N. PROCTOR , Professor of the History of Science at Stanford University and author of Cancer Wars

Markowitz and Rosner have majestically woven the key characters and elements of the history of lead poisoning into a captivating narrative that exposes a tremendous and terrifying truth; unless it serves the needs of private enterprise, public health is incapable of controlling the causes of chronic disease and disability. In place of prevention, we have settled for partial solutions. Everyone who has an interest in public health, health policy or history should read this book.

BRUCE LANPHEAR , MD, MPH, Clinician Scientist, Child & Family Research Institute BC Childrens Hospital and Professor of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC

Lead Wars

CALIFORNIA/MILBANK BOOKS ON HEALTH AND THE PUBLIC

1. The Corporate Practice of Medicine: Competition and Innovation in Health Care , by James C. Robinson

2. Experiencing Politics: A Legislators Stories of Government and Health Care , by John E. McDonough

3. Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint , by Lawrence O. Gostin (revised and expanded second edition, 2008)

4. Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader , edited by Lawrence O. Gostin (revised and updated second edition, 2010)

5. Big Doctoring in America: Profiles in Primary Care , by Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D.

6. Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution , by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner

7. Death Is That Man Taking Names: Intersections of American Medicine, Law, and Culture , by Robert A. Burt

8. When Walking Fails: Mobility Problems of Adults with Chronic Conditions , by Lisa I. Iezzoni

9. What Price Better Health? Hazards of the Research Imperative , by Daniel Callahan

10. Sick to Death and Not Going to Take It Anymore! Reforming Health Care for the Last Years of Life , by Joanne Lynn

11. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 : A Political History , by James A. Wooten

12. Evidence-Based Medicine and the Search for a Science of Clinical Care , by Jeanne Daly

13. Disease and Democracy: The Industrialized World Faces AIDS , by Peter Baldwin

14. Medicare Matters: What Geriatric Medicine Can Teach American Health Care , by Christine K. Cassel

15. Are We Ready? Public Health since 9 / 11, by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz

16. State of Immunity: The Politics of Vaccination in Twentieth-Century America , by James Colgrove

17. Low Income, Social Growth, and Good Health: A History of Twelve Countries , by James C. Riley

18. Searching Eyes: Privacy, the State, and Disease Surveillance in America , by Amy L. Fairchild, Ronald Bayer, and James Colgrove

19. The Health Care Revolution: From Medical Monopoly to Market Competition , by Carl F. Ameringer

20. Real Collaboration: What It Takes for Global Health to Succeed , by Mark L. Rosenberg, Elisabeth S. Hayes, Margaret H. McIntyre, and Nancy Neill

21. House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox , by William H. Foege

22. Inside National Health Reform , by John E. McDonough

23. Pills, Power, and Policy: The Struggle for Drug Reform in Cold War America and Its Consequences , by Dominique A. Tobbell

24. Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of Americas Children , by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner

Lead Wars

The Politics of Science and the Fate

of Americas Children

GERALD MARKOWITZ AND DAVID ROSNER

University of California Press

BERKELEYLOS ANGELESLONDON

Milbank Memorial Fund

NEW YORK

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that engages in nonpartisan analysis, study, research, and communication on significant issues in health policy. In the Funds own publications, in reports, films, or books it publishes with other organizations, and in articles it commissions for publication by other organizations, the Fund endeavors to maintain the highest standards for accuracy and fairness. Statements by individual authors, however, do not necessarily reflect opinions or factual determinations of the Fund. For more information, visit www.milbank.org.

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

2013 by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Markowitz, Gerald E.

Lead wars : the politics of science and the fate of

Americas children / Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner.

p. cm.(California/Milbank books on health and the public; 24 )

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-520-27325-2 (cloth : alk. paper) :

eISBN 9780520954953

1. Lead PoisoninghistoryUnited States. 2. ChildUnited States. 3. Environmental ExposureUnited States. 4. History, 20th CenturyUnited States. 5. PoliticsUnited States. 6. Public HealthhistoryUnited States.

QV 11 AA12013

363.738/492 dc23

2012042916

Manufactured in the United States of America

22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fiber paper that is FSC certified, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certified.

For Andrea and Kathy

And

In memory of John Rosen, MD, whose life was dedicated to protecting children and their families from the scourge of lead poisoning.

Contents

Foreword

The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that works to improve health by helping decision makers in the public and private sectors acquire and use the best available evidence to inform policy for health care and population health. The Fund has engaged in nonpartisan analysis, study, research, and communication since its inception in 1905.