Lead poisoning numbers drop
Child lead poisoning numbers continue to fall across Monroe County, but a corresponding drop in youths being tested — most notably, city youths — is raising concern.
Numbers released Tuesday showed that fewer than one in 70 children screened had elevated blood lead levels last year, compared to nearly one in 10 back in 2000.
However, the decrease in testing rates was "almost exclusively found among ... urban children," according to a release from the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning, as those screened last year in high-risk areas was the fewest since the county started tracking data in 2000. The nearly 20 percent falloff is such that barely half of children being checked today live in those areas where lead exposure is greatest.
"It's a problem, because that is where the highest rates (of child lead poisoning) are," said Dr. Andrew Doniger, who retired last month as the county's public health director after 23 years.
Lead was banned from house paint in 1978 but remains in thousands of Rochester homes. Ingesting the paint dust or chips can cause organ damage as well as cognitive, psychological and behavioral problems.
Children 6 years old and younger are most at risk.
The latest county report on lead testing, released during the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning's annual meeting, showed 182 children younger than six with elevated blood lead levels last year. That is down from 222 the year before. Nearly 800 fewer children were screened; 643 fewer from areas deemed high risk, records show.
Officials struggled to explain the drop-off but worried that repeated declines in lead poisoning, while good news, had led to complacency among caregivers and physicians.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a House appropriation bill proposed to slash federal funding for lead programs by 60 percent. That is money used to assist with training and repairs. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, addressed the matter in a floor speech Tuesday.
"We need to be focusing more on our efforts ensuring that our children live, work, and learn in healthy environments free from lead hazard — not less," she said, concluding: "This is no time to backtrack."
Slaughter cited a recent Centers for Disease Control report finding that 1 in 38 children has dangerous blood lead levels nationwide. The CDC found disparities based on race and income, blamed on "differences in housing quality, environmental conditions, nutrition, and other factors."
Both the county and CDC have lowered or are lowering their respective thresholds for lead poisoning, as research highlights lasting effects at lesser exposure levels.
Rochester has been a national model in lead-safe practices, both in the scope of its lead ordinance, which took effect in July 2006, and the intensity of inspections, recently increasing the frequency for high-risk one- and two-unit buildings.
"We can continue to feel proud about the work that we do as a community," said Wade Norwood, director of community engagement for Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency and a member of the coalition.
Norwood added, however: "We understand, there is still a lot of work to be done."