The Maine Tracking Network has released 2013 childhood lead poisoning data on its online public health data portal.
With the additional year of data there are some interesting trends to explore, such as the dramatic increase in the number of children who have had a blood lead test in the Lewiston-Auburn area over the past few years.
Also available now are updated maps for five selected areas—Bangor, Biddeford-Saco, Lewiston-Auburn, Portland-Westbrook, and Sanford. These areas have had a higher burden of lead poisoning than the rest of the state and have been the focus of community-based lead poisoning prevention efforts since 2009.
The maps let users see the number of children tested or the number of children with a blood lead level 10 ug/dL or higher within the selected areas. Using the interactive query tools, you can compare these data over two different five-year time periods.
Beyond the data for these selected areas, users can make comparisons by county, public health district, and more. And, included with testing and blood lead level data, are data about children living in poverty and percentage of the housing units built before 1950—two important risk factors related to childhood lead poisoning.
- Explore childhood lead poisoning in the data portal
- Read the legislative report about Maine's progress on testing children for blood lead in high-risk areas
- Get information on prevention and clinical testing guidelines for childhood lead poisoning
- Find data from other states about childhood lead poisoning on the National Tracking Network