After testing and analyzing imported vinyl miniblinds, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has determined that some of these blinds can present a lead poisoning hazard for young children. Twenty-five million non-glossy, vinyl miniblinds that have lead added to stabilize the plastic in the blinds are imported each year from China, Taiwan, Mexico, and Indonesia. CPSC found that over time the plastic deteriorates from exposure to sunlight and heat to form lead dust on the surface of the blind. The amount of lead dust that formed from the deterioration varied from blind to blind.In homes where children ages 6 and younger may be present, CPSC recommends that consumers remove these vinyl miniblinds. Young children can ingest lead by wiping their hands on the blinds and then putting their hands in their mouths. Adults and families with older children generally are not at risk because they are not likely to ingest lead dust from the blinds. Lead poisoning in children is associated with behavioral problems, learning disabilities, hearing problems, and growth retardation.

CPSC found that in some blinds, the levels of lead in the dust was so high that a child ingesting dust from less than one square inch of blind a day for about 15 to 30 days could result in blood levels at or above the 10 microgram per deciliter amount CPSC considers dangerous for young children."Some of the vinyl blinds had a level of lead in the dust that would not be considered a health hazard, while others had very high levels," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "Since consumers cannot determine the amount of lead in the dust on their blinds, parents with young children should remove these vinyl miniblinds from their homes."CPSC asked the Window Covering Safety Council, which represents the industry, to immediately change the way it produces vinyl miniblinds by removing the lead added to stabilize the plastic in these blinds. Manufacturers have made the change and new miniblinds without added lead should appear on store shelves beginning around July 1 and should be widely available over the next 90 days.

Stores will sell the new vinyl blinds packaged in cartons indicating that the blinds are made without added lead. The cartons may have labeling such as "new formulation," "nonleaded formula," "no lead added," or "new! New blinds without lead should sell in the same price range as the old blinds at about $5 to $10 each. CPSC recommends that consumers with young children remove old vinyl miniblinds from their homes and replace them with new miniblinds made without added lead or with alternative window coverings. Washing the blinds does not prevent the vinyl blinds from deteriorating, which produces lead dust on the surface.The Arizona and North Carolina Departments of Health first alerted CPSC to the problem of lead in vinyl miniblinds. CPSC tested the imported vinyl miniblinds for lead at its laboratory. The laboratories of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Army's Aberdeen Test Center used electron microscope technology to confirm that as the plastic in the blinds deteriorated, dust formed on the surface of the blind slats.

This testing also established that the dust came from the blinds and not from another source. Oldsmobile 442 T ShirtCPSC laboratory tests confirmed that this dust contained lead."Seat Covers For A Oldsmobile AleroThis lead poisoning is mainly a hazard for children ages 6 and younger," said Chairman Brown. Norwegian Elkhound Puppies For Sale Wv"Adults and older children generally are not at risk because they are not likely to ingest lead dust from the blinds."WITHIN 14 years lead poisoning in American children should be as rare as scarlet fever. That's the goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose officials are so confident that they are planning to relax its current recommendations for widespread testing of children in favor of an approach that focuses only on those in high-risk areas, mainly poor neighborhoods.

But last week, questions about the agency's strategy arose when a new lead poisoning hazard, in the form of vinyl mini-blinds, erased the boundaries between high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods. Tests by the Consumer Products Safety Commission showed that these imported, non-glossy blinds deteriorate in sunlight or heat within a couple of years. The lead, which acts as a binding agent, breaks down and mingles with dust on the slats. Young children, whose fingers are often in their mouths, can easily ingest the dust and suffer lead poisoning within a month's time. The mini-blinds pose a significant risk to children age 6 and under, said Ann Brown, chairwoman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Although this country yearly imports about 25 million vinyl mini-blinds from China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Mexico that contain lead, the risk is not nearly as great as that posed by the lead in imported crayons, which the commission discovered a few years ago and promptly banned.

The safety commission has not banned the leaded mini-blinds, which continue to be sold with no warning label. "If they were a children's product, they would have been banned," Mrs. Brown said. Instead the commission recommended that parents with children under 7 throw away the blinds. American vinyl and aluminum blinds contain no lead. Some foreign manufacturers are voluntarily making lead-free vinyl blinds, which will be labeled when they appear in stores sometime next month. As the clatter of blinds going into trash cans around the country reached a crescendo, parents and others wondered why the problem was not discovered sooner. Mini-blinds appeared in the 1970's. How -- when the Government regulates thousands of poisonous substances -- did toxic blinds slip undetected into American homes? The blinds caught public health officials by surprise; they assumed that the lead was locked safely inside the slats, said Kathleen Begala, a spokeswoman for the safety commission. Are other vinyl household products dangerous, too?

The commission will start testing possible items, including playground equipment, lawn chairs and patio tables, and expects results in six months. Getting the lead out of our immediate surroundings, however, cannot eliminate it, or lead poisoning, from our lives. Although leaded gasoline was banned 20 years ago, its particles remain in the soil and are among the most significant sources of lead poisoning in children today. Unlike laundry detergent, lead is not biodegradable. But like X-rays, lead exposure is cumulative and permanent. It is stored in bones, and during pregnancy a large amount of it is drawn out and enters the fetus, an Australian study reported recently. Given that the substance is pervasive, some experts strongly believe that the C.D.C. should rethink its plan to relax its lead-testing guideline. "It's ridiculous," said Dr. Herbert L. Needleman, director of the lead research group at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "This is another argument for universal screening."

Richard Stapleton, author of "Lead Is a Silent Hazard" (Walker and Company, 1995), also urges universal screening. He discovered that his son's lead level was high only after demanding a test from his pediatrician, who initially judged the child to be at low risk for lead poisoning. "The only way to protect children is to test them," said Mr. Stapleton, who lives in Brooklyn. "It is reasonable for parents who are concerned about their children's exposure to lead in mini-blinds to have them tested," said Jerry M. Hershovitz, acting chief of lead poisoning prevention at the C.D.C. But the threat posed by mini-blinds and other potential sources is not enough to justify universal testing, he said. Since 1991, the C.D.C. has recommended an annual lead test for all children up to age 6, except in areas like rural Alaska where high lead levels are rare. But its research shows that screening can be much more selective since lead poisoning is confined largely to certain demographic groups and neighborhoods.