Baltimore Lead Paint Study
The Baltimore Lead Paint Study was a controversial clinical study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) in poor Baltimorean neighborhoods during the 1990s. Families with young children were deliberately exposed to lead by being housed with their families in apartments where lead paint had not been completely removed. Researchers hoped to show that less stringent lead abatement techniques that would cost landlords less money would pose minimal health risks to children. The study was criticised for targeting poor African American children, for exposing children to a known health risk and for inadequate participant consent. The backlash culminated in class action lawsuits against KKI by Ericka Grimes and Myron Higgins, two of the subjects representing on the order of a hundred affected children without adequate care. Background Despite knowledge of lead's toxicity, there is a long history of using lead in paint due to its role in maintaining a paint's color and increasing durability. In 1951, Baltimore was the first city to ban the use of lead paint in new housing, starting a move towards abating the amount of lead use in homes. Twenty-seven years later, in 1978 the Consumer Product Safety Commission laid down a nationwide ban