Testing for Lead Poisoning in Children has Declined

Friday, April 21st, 2023 -- 9:01 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Testing to detect lead poisoning among kids in Wisconsin declined substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Danielle Kaeding with the Wisconsin Public Radio, while more children are getting tested, around 17 percent fewer kids were screened last year compared to 2019. In 2019, around 83,000 kids in Wisconsin under the age of six received blood lead testing.

That dropped by roughly 22 percent to 65,000 kids in 2020. Last year, around 69,000 kids received testing statewide, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. That’s still well below pre-pandemic levels.

"Part of the decline has been just kids getting back into their providers’ office for well-child checks," Kim Schneider, a public health nurse for DHS, said. "That has continued to be decreased since the pandemic."

There is no safe level of lead exposure. Lead exposure can cause damage to the brain along with learning and behavioral problems in children. Kids are at higher risk of lead poisoning if their families live in older homes with deteriorating lead paint, which is the primary source of lead exposure in Wisconsin.

They can also be exposed by lead-tainted dust, soil and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, had been using a reference value of 5 micrograms per deciliter to identify kids with higher levels of lead in their blood, which is the state’s definition of lead poisoning.

The number of children with high lead levels in Wisconsin had been largely declining since 2012. However, the CDC lowered that threshold to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter in 2019. Since then, the change means the number of kids considered lead poisoned by state health officials has doubled.

Last year, figures provided by DHS show 3,679 children or 5.3 percent of around 69,000 tested statewide had a blood lead level greater than 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. That compares to 1,878 kids or 2.7 percent of children tested under the old threshold.

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