MIS ‘LEAD’ ING TESTS

Health officials recorded 820 tests showing elevated levels of lead in children living in city housing projects, but failed to follow up and inspect their apartments, City Hall admitted Saturday.

Authorities could not say how many children were affected because some were tested in more than one year, but a source said, “the majority of the cases are new.”

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, any level of lead exposure can be toxic, and it recommends authorities take action if children test positive for having more than five micrograms of the compound is found in their blood.

The CDC implemented the five- microgram standard in 2012 to catch more cases of potential lead poisoning.

However, city health officials continued to use the CDC’s old 10-microgram standard, meaning these 820 positive tests would not have been forwarded by city health officials to NYCHA, and would not have triggered a home inspection — potentially allowing the exposure to continue.

The Health Department stats do not indicate how many of the 820 tests represent multiple testings of the same child.

In all, from 2012 through 2016, the most recent years for which the city has stats, health officials re- corded 820 tests for lead exposure from children under the age of 6 who live in New York City Housing Authority developments that met or exceeded the CDC’s threshold, but did not meet the Health Department’s lower standard.

The figures show that in 2012, the city recorded 229 kids under 6 who had lead levels between 5 and 10 micrograms. In 2013, the city re- corded 184 kids in the same category. In 2014, that number fell to 181; in 2015 it was 112 and in 2016, it was 114.

Asked why city officials failed to test these “gap” children’s apartments, city officials said that they have now begun conducting environmental inspections of the homes of all children under age 18 with a blood level of five micrograms per deciliter or higher.

“The Health Department has already begun to conduct these investigations for children in public housing and will begin implementing beyond that by the end of the year,” City Hall said in a press release Saturday night.

City officials also touted their “robust” lead-poisoning-prevention programs, and noted that lead poisoning has gone down by nearly 90 percent since 2005.

The mayor agreed earlier this month to fund an extra $2.2 billion in NYCHA repairs and lead abatements, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office.