Connecticut acts to help its lead-poisoned children

After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.

The state will direct most of its efforts and most of $30 million in federal money, toward its cities, whose children have borne the brunt of this epidemic. In announcing the allocation recently, Gov. Ned Lamont pointed to lead's "catastrophic" effects on children's health and development, noting that lead poisoning is "a problem that impacts most deeply minority and disadvantaged communities of our state."

Nearly half of the 1,024

children reported as lead poisoned in 2020 lived in New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Hartford, or other cities, according to state Department of Public Health numbers.

The more enduring thrust

of the state's new actions, however, is the strengthening of its outdated lead laws, starting in 2023. The changes will increase early interventions by:

Gradually lowering the blood lead levels that trigger parental notifications.

Lowering the blood lead counts requiring home inspections.

Requiring more frequent testing of children who live in areas where lead exposure is more common.

Under current law, parental notifications aren't required unless a child's blood lead level is 5 micrograms per deciliter or higher. Starting Jan. 1, 2023, the trigger for parental notifications will be 3.5 micrograms, the standard adopted by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the state had used the CDC's new measurement of 3.5 micrograms in 2020, the number of Connecticut children considered lead poisoned would triple to 3,000.

More significantly, perhaps, is that by Jan. 1, 2025, investigations into where and how a child has been poisoned will drop from the current trigger of 20 micrograms per deciliter to 5 micrograms per deciliter.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (c-hit.org), a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting.

CT Department of Public Health / Contributed photo Lori Mathieu, Department of Public Health public health section chief, discusses the state’s lead-abatement plans with Commissioner Manisha Juthani.