MICHAEL F. EASLEY
GOVERNOR
LEAD AWARENESS MONTH
2007
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, lead poisoning, while preventable, continues to be a problem that causes major
developmental delays and learning disabilities in our children; and
WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year,
approximately 3 I 0,000 children across the United States are exposed to lead-based paint hazards; and
WHEREAS, according to the Norih Carolina Department Environment and Natural Resources, in
2006, I 36,626 children under the age of 6 were screened for lead poisoning in North Carolina, and I ,071
of those children screen tested for elevated lead exposures; and
WHEREAS, during the past 12 years, North Carolina has seen a dramatic 88 percent decrease in
the prevalence of elevated lead exposure among children tested, from 7.0 percent in 1995 to 0.8 percent in
2006; and this momentum must be maintained in order to reach our ultimate goal of elimination
by 2010; and
WHEREAS, with the cooperation of agencies within the State of North Carolina, including the
Division of Environmental Health in the Department of Environment and Natuial Resources, the
Divisions of Public Health and Medical Assistance within the Department of Health and Hun1ru1 Services,
and the State Laboratory of Public Health, we are continuing to strive to meet these goals;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL F. EASLEY, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do
hereby proclaim October 2007, as "LEAD AWARENESS MONTH" in North Carolina and urge our
citizens to support further efforts to elinlinate lead and the pem1anent damages caused by lead poisoning
from the homes and schools of our State.
t0"1CHAEL F. EASLEY
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of
North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this thirteenth day qf June in the yeru· of our Lord two thousand
and seven, and.ofthe Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.