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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island’s landmark lawsuit against lead paint makers ended in a mistrial Tuesday after the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked in the potentially multimillion-dollar case. 

The state was trying to hold eight former paint manufacturers liable for lead poisoning in 35,000 Rhode Island children since 1993. 

Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse said the state is prepared to try the case again “within weeks.” 

Had the jury found the manufacturers caused a public nuisance, the case would have moved into two more phases to decide whether the industry is liable and how much it should pay in damages. 

However, the jury deadlocked 4-2 in favor of the manufacturers after four days of deliberations and seven weeks of trial. 

“I think we all agreed that lead paint was a hazard,” foreman George Mansi said. 

But Mansi said some jurors had doubts about the magnitude of the threat. He said they were swayed heavily by the state’s concession that it had no evidence of a child getting sick from lead at any school, hospital or public building in the state. 

More than 40 lawsuits have been filed since 1989 by individuals and communities against lead paint companies. All have failed. Rhode Island is the first state to sue the industry under public nuisance law. 

The case was being watched nationally. Other states, notably Connecticut and West Virginia, were poised to take legal action had Rhode Island prevailed. 

Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Ohio also were contemplating lawsuits, said Eileen Quinn, deputy director of the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. Cities such as San Francisco, Milwaukee, New York and Newark, N.J., have already filed lawsuits. 

“The paint industry is a multimillion-dollar industry and it dodged a legal bullet today,” said Bain Testa, news editor of Rhode Island Lawyers weekly. “A (favorable) judgment could’ve decimated the industry and caused paint prices to skyrocket.” 

Lead paint was banned in 1978 after studies showed flaking paint or dust can harm children who eat or breathe it. Health problems include behavioral disorders, brain damage and even death. 

Lead paint remains in about 330,000 homes and public buildings in Rhode Island — about 80 percent of the state’s housing stock, according to the state. 

The paint companies said the problem is confined to deteriorating paint found in homes managed by delinquent landlords or irresponsible homeowners. 

John Tarantino, the chief attorney for the defendants, said the mistrial shows the lead paint issue “is not a question that should be resolved through litigation but through legislation.” 

Mansi said he had sided with the state, persuaded by their argument that children continue to be sickened by lead paint. 

“I have an obligation to protect those who can’t talk for themselves, and those are the children,” said the 64-year-old retired Air Force veteran. 

The defendants were American Cyanamid Co.; Atlantic Richfield; ConAgra Grocery Products Co.; Cytec Industries Inc.; DuPont Co.; Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Inc.; NL Industries Inc.; and Sherwin-Williams Co.