DHSS Press Release

DELAWARE'S LEAD POISONING RATE DROPS 83 PERCENT

State Program Receives National Recognition

Delaware's lead poisoning prevention efforts have reduced the state's leading environmental health threat by 83 percent among children in the last eight years. With a lead poisoning rate of 1.7 percent, Delaware has exceeded the U.S. Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing the number of children ages 1-5 with elevated blood lead levels to below 3.2 percent, and dropped well below the national average of 4.4 percent.

This success has made Delaware's Division of Public Health's Office of Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention (OCLPP) programs a national model, attracting interest from the national Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 1994, 1,411 Delaware children were diagnosed with lead poisoning. That number dropped to 242 in 2002. Children suffering from early stages of lead poisoning may not show signs of illness. However, even low exposure can result in permanent learning, hearing and behavioral problems, stunted growth, and long-lasting brain damage. The CDC defines blood lead poisoning in children as greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter (ug/dl).

Decades of use of lead in paint, gasoline, plumbing systems and various products has distributed this hazard in the environment. Many buildings constructed before 1980 contain some lead paint. As the paint ages, it crumbles into dust that settles on surfaces where children may play. Because children often place their fingers in their mouths, they are most vulnerable to swallowing lead paint dust.

Strategies to reduce lead poisoning include identifying affected children through screening, eliminating the source of lead exposure and raising community awareness. In 2002, 13,941 Delaware children received an initial blood-lead screen, up from 8,176 children eight years ago. This increase in screenings is due in part to Delaware's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, which mandates blood-lead screening in children near 12 months of age. Cooperation between the state Department of Education, Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families and OCLPP helps assure that Delaware's preschoolers and kindergarteners obtain blood lead screening. OCLPP also worked with physicians to develop a screening protocol for testing children for lead poisoning.

In 1998, the federal government mandated that all children receiving Medicaid must have a blood-lead screen at 12 and 24 months of age. DPH and the state Medicaid office joined efforts to review data and provide priority zip codes where lead poisoning is most prevalent, with increasing efforts for public education and outreach in those zip codes.

OCLPP developed partnerships with the Delaware State Housing Authority and the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) to identify resources for low-income families. Through the De-Lead Delaware Project, lead paint was removed from 225 housing units in Hilltop Westend Community of Wilmington using $2.7 million of grant funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Working with school nurses, OCLPP also established an outreach program with a variety of teaching tools to help residents understand lead poisoning.

For more information, call the Delaware HelpLine at 1-800-464-4357 and ask for the Office of Lead Poisoning Prevention.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware's citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations.