LA Lead Summit 2018: Engaging Communities in Prevention

The first ever Los Angeles Lead Summit was hosted at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Harlene Norris Tower, Aresty Auditorium. This summit organized by Adventist Health/White Memorial in coordination with Keck Medicine of USC, the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement of the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the USC Office Of. Civic Engagement, the KSOM, and Councilmember’s office Jose Huizar, brought together medical scholars, community leaders, students and residents to discuss the issue of lead poisoning in the Los Angeles area. Councilmember Huizar provided a personal and inspirational account of how led exposure can impact families. The summit shed light onto the large lead contamination concerns that persist within our local communities, most notably surrounding the Boyle Heights area, and the implications for cancer risk and risk for other diseases. Medical Doctors and Researchers, Dr. Brian Johnston from Adventist Health White Memorial and Dr. Bruce Lanphear from the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, discussed some of the detrimental health impacts that lead can have on the human body and the irreversible effects they can have on children’s mental development. The effects of which are even more damaging when combined with other toxin exposures such as Arsenic. Jane Williams, Executive Director of California Communities Against Toxins, urged the need for local communities to become involved and to hold large corporations like EXIDE accountable for their battery-recycle plants that have emitted these dangerous toxins for decades. Monsignor John Moretta of Resurrection Catholic Church spoke about the effects that lead poisoning has had on his own community and the need for our local politicians to stand up to this issue and develop responsible timely clean-up plans for the local neighborhoods. Other speakers included Dr. James Dahlgren, environmental toxicologist from the UCLA School Of. Medicine, and Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director from Occupational Knowledge International. The summit also included breakout sessions where participants could share their input on topics such as widespread environmental testing, short-term solutions, and public policy. This gathering of public health advocates, academia, health professionals, cancer specialists, and civil society where the impetus for engaging and empowering community residents to learn more about lead and advocate for expanding lead clean up to wider areas in Los Angeles. This summit brought awareness to the issue of lead poisoning; and developed effective strategies to lessen its impact on the residents in our local communities.