PROVIDENCE, RI — The state of Rhode Island and a prominent Baltimore attorney have filed lawsuits against former lead-paint manufacturers and pigment suppliers, seeking millions of dollars to pay for treatment of children affected by lead poisoning and to remove lead paint from buildings.

Encouraged by the multi-state, multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement, Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse filed suit against former lead-paint and pigment manufacturers and called upon the industry to “take responsibility and clean up its mess.”