Delfin Diaz

Delfin Diaz, a Chicago lead inspector, can tell whether lead-ridden paint is being exposed by pointing the barrel of a measure that looks like a gun against a surface. (Photo by Josh Hawkins)
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Diaz tells the woman that he understands her family is frightened that the discovery of lead will upset their landlord. But he needs to check it out and politely pushes his way inside.

The apartment smells of cleaning spray.
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"That is the ideal scenario for how he could have been poisoned," Diaz says. "Eighty percent of the problems are old windows and old porches." He discovers that the lead level on the windowsills is extremely high.

Despite progress over the past decade, for families in Chicago like the one whose apartment is being inspected by Diaz, lead poisoning remains one of the top environmental health concerns for children.
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This is underscored when Diaz inspects the apartment.

When he enters the kitchen, the older woman turns from a big pot of rice on the stove and starts at him again. She insists there is no way the boy got the lead from the home. "There are five families living here," she says, "and we need this place to live."

In the 20 years since Diaz began his work as a lead inspector, he says the lead situation has gotten markedly better for a number of reasons. A concerted effort by public health officials and community organizations have made parents better educated about the damage lead can do, causing them to take it more seriously, he says.