Lead watch
The county is right to test kids for lead poisoning
The Allegheny County Health Department has taken the prudent step of voting to require that children be tested for lead poisoning. The regulation is not effective until county council and county Executive Rich Fitzgerald approve it, and they should do so expeditiously.
Lead in public drinking water has received the most attention nationwide and locally in recent years because of the public health emergency in Flint, Mich., and elevated levels of the chemical found in the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority supply. But as the Health Department is quick to point out, the major source of lead contamination locally is the paint in an aging housing stock. Children can be exposed to the lead as the paint chips or flakes.
While the department in recent years has seen fewer cases of lead poisoning in children, not more, the testing requirement is most welcome. The blood test would be administered to children when they are between 9 months and a year old and again when they are 2. Most insurers cover the test, and the Health Department is setting up a program to provide the test to those without insurance. Parents who strenuously object would have avenues for opting out of the testing. Let’s hope that few do so; lead exposure is believed to affect children’s behavior and cognitive abilities.
The testing program, which could take effect in January, should be part of a broader effort to educate residents about lead exposure and remediate the various sources. It makes sense to kick off the program as the PWSA works to find and replace publicly owned lead service lines, as city officials begin to distribute lead water filters to consumers and as property owners make decisions about whether to replace their portions of water service lines, which may contain lead.
When a blood test shows an elevated level of lead in children, health officials must be prepared to spring into action and work with those families to address exposure in their homes or neighborhoods. Concerted action can help the community to appreciate the danger of lead exposure and minimize the risk. Required blood tests for children is a logical public health safeguard.