Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State University's Department of Urban Studies, commented in a story about how budget cuts, expired grants and shifted priorities have decimated Detroit's response to child lead poisoning. Detroit has some of the highest child lead poisoning levels among all large U.S. cities because of the city's older housing stock and the prevalence of lead paint usage in the 1970's and earlier. Thompson said someone needs to step in and pay for the missing gaps in lead response. "This will prevent huge downstream costs for Detroit children," Thompson said. "We're talking increased crime, decreased performance in school, decreased lifetime earnings. "We need to prevent this scourge from undermining the capacity of our kids." A companion story notes Wayne State University as a source.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013304280071
http://www.freep.com/article/20130428/NEWS01/304280007/How-lead-poisons-look-lead-s-effects-children-adults