Post Date: 06/17/10 | Category: Lead News

National and Local Experts Urge Lead Poisoning Testing For Children.
50% of children in Grand Rapids are not being tested for lead poisoning at the  critical ages of 1 and 2.

GRAND RAPIDS – The Grand Rapids Get The Lead Out! campaign has been successful on many fronts.  The number of homes having lead based paint abated is increasing.  Yet an alarming number of children are not being tested for lead poisoning at the critical ages of 1 and 2.

“In children, lead can cause nervous system and kidney damage, learning disabilities, speech, language problems, decreased muscle and bone growth and hearing damage,” said Joan Dyer-Zykowski, Kent County Health Department Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Manager. "The majority of children lead poisoned in Grand Rapids are between one and two years old."

The Get The Lead Out! campaign is joining the Centers for Disease Control, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), and the American Academy of Pediatrics in recommending that parents, physicians and health professionals request and conduct blood lead testing at well child check-ups for all one and two year-old children who reside in the city of Grand Rapids.  Health insurance pays for the procedure and testing is the only proven way to detect the exposure that leads to brain damage and other negative health outcomes.

Childhood lead poisoning still affects hundreds of children in the City of Grand Rapids each year.  According to MDCH, 103 children were lead poisoned in the city of Grand Rapids in 2008.  73 of those children were one and two years of age. 

"The fact that we know that only half of our children are being tested means the  number of children with lead in their bodies is much greater than the number reported," said Paul Haan, Executive Director for the Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan.  "The data shows that in some neighborhoods, the number children being tested for lead is barely reaching 20%.  Anything less than 100% is unacceptable.  We need to get the lead out of the homes and out of our children.”

Lead poisoning rates have dropped more than 75% since the Get The Lead Out! campaign began tracking data in 2001.  Unsafe home remodeling activity that spreads lead dust is responsible for a growing portion of the children being poisoned.  The City of Grand Rapids has monies available to eradicate lead in homes. Homeowners and landlords can learn more by visiting www.GetTheLeadOutGR.com.

Click here for a Media Packet.

Click here for a Parent Fact Sheet about getting your child tested.