More than 70% of Pennsylvania homes were built before the 1978 national ban on lead paint. In 2021, nearly 5,000 children in the state tested positive for high levels of lead in their blood. Lead paint is the lead source of exposure in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Several cities, including Philadelphia, require landlords to certify their properties are lead-free.

Dr. Robb Bassett, associate medical director of the Philadelphia Poison Control Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said physicians continue to see patients who have been exposed to lead. He said preventing exposure by identifying lead paint is crucial.

“Unfortunately, when lead poisoning affects the body, particularly in small children, the impacts and health consequences can be extensive and devastating, including permanent neurologic damage, permanent cognitive impairment, and in the most extreme cases, can be fatal,” Bassett said. “Unfortunately, our ability to screen children for lead exposure only captures kids who have already been exposed, and we know there’s no safe lead level. If we’re only identifying children who have been exposed we are already behind the curve.”

To participate in the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction program, families must meet certain income requirements and have a child in the home. If eligible, a contractor will assess the home for lead and eventually work to remove any hazards, which would typically cost thousands of dollars if paying out of pocket.

The new funding will help prevent kids from getting sick, said Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, executive director of the Pennsylvania nonprofit Women for a Healthy Environment.

“This funding, once we identify properties that have lead in them, is a way to identify that property and mitigate that lead exposure to make sure that families are protected,” she said. “Unfortunately, we see children who have that exposure and then the harm has happened. And so our goal is to do this from a primary prevention perspective where we can mitigate that before the exposure happens.”

Naccarati-Chapkis and Dr. Bassett said there are several steps families can take to protect themselves.

They recommend children wash their hands before mealtime, and though the presence of lead isn’t inherently dangerous, parents should consider getting their kids tested for lead levels in their blood.

Donald Trump called Whoopi Goldberg a “demented and “disgusting” person during his rally speech in Reading, Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening, days after Goldberg co-hosted Vice President Kamala Harris on The View.

In typical Trump fashion, the former president used time during his rally to attack Harris and other opponents, this time focusing on those who recently hosted the vice president on their talk or radio shows.

Trump told rallygoers in the key swing state that Harris’s interview with The View on Tuesday was “stupid” and featured “really dumb people” – but went one step further to bash Goldberg, a longtime co-host and outspoken Trump critic.

“I did a walk-on for Whoopi Goldberg now she says ‘I refuse to mention his name,’” Trump said referencing the cameo he did in Goldberg’s 1996 spots comedy film, Eddie.

“You know what, politics can do strange things to demented people,” he added.

The former president claimed at the time Goldberg told him he was “so great” and begged him to be part of the movie. He claims she told him “If you ever ran for president, you’d win.”

More recently, Goldberg has used words like “moron,” “unhinged” and “dictator” to describe Trump. She notoriously vowed to never say Trump’s name aloud and often refers to him as “you-know-who.”

Trump told his audience that he once hired Goldberg to perform comedy but she was “filthy, dirty, disgusting” and used vulgar language that caused people to leave the room.

“What a loser she is,” Trump told rallygoers.

The former president also launched attacks at radio host Howard Stern for hosting Harris on his show. He claimed Stern is a “weak guy” for asking soft-ball questions to the vice president.

“I used to think he was good then I dropped him, I dropped him like a dog,” Trump said.It is a common tactic for Trump to insult those who have publicly opposed or ridiculed him during his lengthy rally speeches.

At Wednesday’s rally alone Trump bashed Goldberg, Stern, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, former president Jimmy Carter, Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, President Joe Biden and prosecutor Jack Smith.

He also spent a considerable amount of time criticizing Harris. He called the vice president “stupid” and claimed she is “a dumb person” – an insult he has logged before at other rallies.

After making multiple degrading comments about Goldberg, Warren and Harris, the former president told rally attendees that a staffer asked him to stop calling the vice president “dumb” because it would hurt his reputation with woman voters.

But Trump said he believes women “like me anyway” and any claims that his language impacts how woman voters view him is “bulls***.”

“They make it up,” Trump said.