PROVIDENCE -- The state's third witness in its trial against companies that made and sold lead-based paint described the "hundreds and hundreds" of lead-poisoned children in "hundreds and hundreds" of homes that had hazardous lead-paint conditions.

June Tourangeau, a licensed practical nurse and coordinator of the lead clinic at St. Joseph's Hospital, has worked with lead-poisoned children and their families for 10 years.

She also works at the lead center, formerly run by Health and Education Leadership for Providence (HELP); it is now managed by St. Joseph's Hospital. Tourangeau is a member of the outreach team. She visits the homes of lead-poisoned children and tries to help determine how they were poisoned and how to prevent another poisoning.

Tourangeau said the lead clinic was years ahead of federal guidelines; the recommendations the clinic gave to parents of lead-poisoned children in the mid-1990s was the same as the guidelines published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002.

In her testimony before Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein, she said that as part of her job she tells parents what they can do to temporarily minimize the risks of lead poisoning in their homes: washing toys and pacifiers, taking shoes off when they come inside, and taping up areas of peeling paint.

Many parents she has met, she testified, don't know the importance of nutrition. "Children that have lead poisoning don't have enough iron in their systems," and so, Tourangeau said, she also gives parents information about good eating habits.

Defense lawyers raised nearly 20 objections, many challenging Tourangeau's authority on facts about where lead-poisoned children are being exposed to lead. They are scheduled to cross-examine her today.

The court will also consider whether another of the state's witnesses, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, is qualified to testify.

Yesterday, defense lawyers questioned Cicilline about the depth and source of his knowledge about lead paint and lead poisoning in Rhode Island. More arguments are scheduled for this afternoon.

Brandie Jefferson has a fellowship with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting. She can be reached at bjeffers [at] projo.com