Families push for lead safety reforms amid children's long-term lead poisoning effects

Emma Quinn

Wed, May 28th 2025 at 4:35 PM

Updated Wed, May 28th 2025 at 11:06 PM

ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — We've been following the efforts to keep families in New York safe from lead for years now.

Recently there have been efforts to remove lead service lines from homes.

However, lawmakers are tackling lead paint which remains in some homes.

At 9 months old Cooper Burkett was diagnosed with lead poisoning.

It was linked to construction in the apartment building his family was living in.

“We had no idea because the construction actually happened a year before,” said Shannon Burkett, Cooper’s mom. “Lead dust doesn't come out of fabrics, so he was crawling around on our rug that had been vacuumed but it didn't come out.”

It took a month for his professionals to find where the lead was coming from.

Following the diagnosis, Cooper developed an eating disorder called pica which causes a person to eat things aside from food.

Now at age 17 he’s still facing the challenges linked to lead poisoning .

“I barely ate, and I had an ulcer when I was five, and an endoscopy biopsy revealed that I had damage in the lining of my stomach,” said Cooper. “The processing issues, difficulty regulating my emotions, and short-term memory loss still haunt me today.”

New York lawmakers are pushing for change through new proposals.

One bill would require lead paint tests to be part of real estate transactions, currently it’s not mandated and homeowners can exclude it in inspections.

The other bill establishes standards for lead safe renovation, repairs, and painting of residential properties.

A Reuter’s 2017 study found Buffalo had 40% of children living in three zip codes had elevated lead levels.

But when we look at the statewide data, it's not just Buffalo. It's all throughout New York state, but it's clustered in areas of older homes that are poorly maintained,” said Senator Sean Ryan. “There's more poisoning in rentals than there are in owner-occupied [homes]. So we know we can do a better job maintaining our old houses.”

A thirdbillwould prohibit the exclusion of coverage for damages caused by exposure to lead-based paint.

Under current law, insurance companies can deny coverage for lead poisoning through lead-based paint; this would change that.

Lead based paint was federally banned in 1978 but that doesn't mean it’s not still there.

“If you're buying a house that was built in 1940 and this person purchased the home in 2010, they're not going to have records of what happened in the 50s and 60s and 70s,” said Real Estate expert Anthony Gucciardo. “Whenever I'm selling a house to a family or somebody with children, you know, we don't know if that child is going to put their mouth on a window sill that could be contaminated with lead paint.”

Gucciardo tells home sellers to put the work into fixing any issues such as lead paint, pipes, or mold; he says making an effort goes a long way for home buyers.

“Get the paperwork, and then you can pass it on to the buyer because when a buyer sees that a seller has made an effort to correct a situation, they often feel better about the transaction versus thinking that somebody is hiding something.”

For Marketa Mccants, she raised her family in Buffalo; they moved to Albany with hopes of living in safer environments, only to find out lead was in the walls.

“I'm a mother of four sons and one daughter and I've seen all my children develop ADHD, processing delays, autism on the spectrum and numerous health concerns and conditions along with mental health concerns and conditions,” said Mccants.

She’s hopeful the bills will make it to the governor’s desk and be signed so other families don’t have similar experiences as hers and the Burkett’s.

“That they will take some action so that we don't have to continue to wait and that not only my children but my grandchildren will no longer suffer,” said Mccants.