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Today we begin our series on childhood lead poisoning and how the state is responding to it.

This heavy metal can be disastrous to a child's health - a fact that has been known since the early 1900's. By 1909, France, Belgium and Austria had banned the use of lead paint inside homes.

Such paint is not the only source of the metal, but today, it is the most widespread.

America also banned lead paint - in 1978. But almost three decades later, New Hampshire still confronts about 250 cases of lead poisoning each year.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Amy Quinton has our first report.

She looks at the one group that has been hit hardest by lead poisoning - newly arrived refugees from Africa.