Abstract
Lead exposure is a major health hazard affecting children and their growth and is a concern in many urban areas around the world. One such city in the United States (US), South Bend Indiana, gained attention for its high levels of lead in blood and relatively low testing rates for children. We assessed current lead screening practices in South Bend and the surrounding St. Joseph County (SJC). The 2005–2015 lead screening data included 18,526 unique children. Lead screening rates ranged from 4.7 to 16.7%. More than 75% of children had ‘elevated blood lead levels’ (EBLL) ≥ 1 micrograms per deciliter (µg/Dl) and 9.7% had an EBLL ≥ 5 μg/dL. Over 65% of the census tracts in SJC had mean EBLL ≥ 5 μg/dL, suggesting widespread risk. Inconsistent lead screening rates, coupled with environmental and societal risk factors, put children in SJC at greater risk for harmful lead exposure than children living in states with provisions for universal screening. Indiana and other states should adhere to the US Centers for Disease Control’s guideline and use universal lead testing to protect vulnerable populations.
Highlights
Beginning in the early 1900s, manufacturers incorporated lead into a host of products, mostly lead-based paint and leaded gasoline; global contamination of air, water, and soil resulted [1]
2005–2015 and no census tract reached close to the 100% recommended by the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Of the 75 census tracts in St. Joseph County (SJC), 49 (65%) had an elevated blood lead levels’ (EBLL) greater than or equal to 5 μg/dL, suggesting that risk exists beyond the center city of South Bend
Summary
Beginning in the early 1900s, manufacturers incorporated lead into a host of products, mostly lead-based paint and leaded gasoline; global contamination of air, water, and soil resulted [1]. Largely for lead-acid batteries, has increased substantially since the 1970s, even as lead was largely phased out of paint and gasoline [1]. Lead poisoning is estimated to kill on the order of 500,000 people per year globally, with 82% of deaths due to lead occurring in low and middle income countries [2]. The primary source of lead exposure in low and middle income countries differs from the United States (US), with the former dominated by battery manufacturing and recycling and the latter by the legacy impacts of lead-based paint and fuel that resulted in concentration of lead in surface soils [3]. Studies have shown a strong association between childhood lead poisoning and criminal arrests [10, 11], as well as other non-cognitive health issues [12, 13]
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