Creighton University Psychologist Dr. Maya Khanna recently conducted a study of 40 children living in Omaha’s Lead Superfund Site – the largest residential clean up project in the nation.
Kara Henner Eastman is President & CEO of Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and says the children were ages 3 to 6 and they were tested for school readiness and cognitive skills.
The study shows evidence that boys experience the negative cognitive consequences of lead more than girls and those functions include attention and memory more than reading skills.
Henner Eastman says, “Once there is lead in the body of a child there is nothing really to reverse the affects. What she, (Dr. Khanna) is looking at now is if we do some learning activities, cognitive testing with the kids, innovations that actually works with their brain function, there might be some ways to improve their learning for the future.”
The EPA designated the Omaha site in 2004. Since then officials have been removing contaminated soil. The project should be complete this year.