Betsy Berwanger, 56, and her son Zane, 1/ family photo/USA TODAY
by Kaitlyn Ridel, USA TODAY
Thousands of U.S. children with dangerous amounts of lead in
their blood may go unassisted this year because local health departments
can't afford to monitor them, a survey of major cities by USA TODAY
shows.
In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut
in half the amount of lead that should trigger medical monitoring and
other actions in children younger than 6.
The CDC's action came
after its scientific advisory board concluded that even small amounts of
lead exposure are associated with reduced IQs, attention problems and
poor academic achievement. The new guidelines mean that 450,000 kids are
at risk of lead poisoning, up from 77,000.
When a child has a
dangerously high blood lead level, health departments try to conduct a
home inspection to locate the possible sources of lead poisoning in the
child's environment and monitor the child over time to make sure his or
her blood lead level improves.
But most local health departments
said they can't afford to offer this service to all the children who
meet the CDC's new standard, which was reduced from 10 micrograms per
deciliter of lead in a child's blood to 5.
Congress cut the CDC
budget for lead poisoning prevention programs by 94%, from $29 million
in fiscal year 2011 to $2 million for 2012.
"We are actually going
to see a reduction or even elimination in services for children at (a
level of) 10 and above," said Rebecca Morley, executive director of the
National Center for Healthy Housing, which works to eliminate lead
poisoning. "It is very concerning because at the same time we are
learning about the harmful effects of even much lower levels."
Asked
about the funding shortfall, the CDC said in a statement Monday that it
"remains committed to reaching the national goal of eliminating
childhood lead poisoning as a public health concern by 2020" and that it
will work with other federal, state and local officials to make the
best use of available funds.
USA TODAY's survey of 21 city health departments shows:
•
Only one city, Portland, Ore., does automatic home inspections to
determine the source of a child's lead poisoning at the CDC's new
poisoning level of 5.
• Twenty departments only offer home
inspections at blood lead levels above 10, the old standard set in 1991,
and a few do so at 20 or higher.
• Health departments in 14
cities say they have the funds for automatic educational outreach such
as mailing information to families of children at the new action level.
This means families in about one third of the cities might never receive
educational assistance for children meeting the new standard. One city
surveyed, St. Louis, sends educational material to families with
children with levels of 1 or above.
The Boston Public Health
Commission will begin to send information this month to families with
children whose lead levels are 5 or above.
"It's better to get
information to parents and educate them, and make sure their environment
is lead safe," says Leon Bethune, the commission's environmental health
director.
The most common sources of lead poisoning are
lead-based paint, house dust, water and contaminated soil. Other sources
include toys, imported spices and food or candy.
Betsy Berwanger,
56, said a nurse came to her home to educate her family about possible
sources of lead after the Cincinnati Health Department found her son
Zane, 1, had a blood lead level of 5.1 in June.
She said the nurse told her how lead can be tracked in the house through dirt on a person's shoes or by imported toys.
"It
never would have occurred to me lead would be in the paint of
children's toys," Berwanger said. Last week, Zane's latest result showed
half the lead level of the test in June.
"It is almost miraculous," Berwanger said.