Here's a little quiz.

1. Is it smarter to fix a leaky roof or repair water-damaged ceilings after a storm?

2. Does it make more sense to change the oil in your car regularly or pay for a new motor when it runs dry?

3. Is it easier to weed your garden when the weeds are small or after they've taken over?

4. Does it make sense to prevent lead poisoning in children rather than deal with the lifelong consequences after the fact?

Most of us would agree that it makes sense to take care of our roofs, cars and gardens before problems happen. But when it comes to lead poisoning, we in New Hampshire have been doing just the opposite.

Our current laws don't provide for lead testing in a dwelling until after a child living there develops elevated blood lead levels. And even then, the levels are twice what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say is acceptable.

Let's dispel a few myths.

First, lead poisoning doesn't come simply from eating paint chips, although that is one source.

It also comes from the dust created when lead paint dries or is sanded or scraped off when a lead-painted window is opened and closed. The more you live around lead dust, the more likely it is to find its way into your system.

Children are more vulnerable to it because their bodies are still developing. Among children, it can lead to behavior and attention problems, learning disabilities, reduced IQ, slowed growth, hearing problems and anemia. In adults, lead poisoning can cause neurological damage, reproductive problems and increased blood pressure.

Another myth is that lead paint poisoning affects only poor children.

In fact, because New Hampshire has some of the oldest houses in all the United States, children in grand, sprawling country estates and urban studio apartments are equally vulnerable to lead poisoning.

It's time we took a more sensible approach to lead poisoning.

The New Hampshire Senate recently passed Senate Bill 176, which contains several important provisions. It would authorize inspection of all the units in a dwelling if a child with elevated blood lead levels is found in one unit. This helps so that we don't have to wait for children to get poisoned.

The bill lowers the amount of poison in a child's blood that we will tolerate for New Hampshire's children. It allows for funding to help property owners deal with lead hazards. And it creates a legislative commission to study more ways to prevent children from being exposed to this poison.

The Health and Human Services Committee voted overwhelmingly in support of SB 176. The full House is voting on the bill Wednesday. It deserves speedy passage.

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, it makes sense to deal with the problem of lead paint now rather than later. The health consequences of lead paint poisoning are expensive to treat and last a lifetime.

Although lead paint has been banned since 1976, New Hampshire sees more than 200 new cases of children with elevated blood lead levels every year. That's simply not acceptable. As a state, we have the power to address this problem.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's time to apply that commonsense attitude to the issue of lead poisoning.

(Lew Feldstein is president of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.)

By LEW FELDSTEIN

For the Monitor